Strawberry Days
by LilacLilyFlower
Summary: Series of oneshots from my Reaching Series (Hikari's story). Requests are taken about anything (generations, AU, ships, etc.) Rated T.
1. Chapter 1: Slapshipping

REQUESTED ONESHOT: Sasuke and Hikari, Slapshipping

_Milestones_

(Note: This is an AU in which Sasuke doesn't leave for Orochimaru)

-O-O-O-O-

The first time he kisses her at age 12, she slaps him across the face before silently walking away.

He remembers the look in her eyes clearly: quiet fury smoldering in depths of reflective blue. What he doesn't understand is: why did she slap him? He liked her, and she liked him. Right?

They had experienced the Massacre together; they had laughed together, trained together, and attacked Shisui together. When he recalls his childhood, his happy memories, he recalls _her_.

So why was it that she didn't seem to feel the same way?

-O-O-O-O-

The next time he kisses her at age 14, she slaps him on the shoulder and shoots him a frown.

_I'm already dating someone_, she says. _ Don't kiss me_.

He knows already, of course. It was the idiot Inuzuka that she had saved during the invasion of Konoha. She should have just let him stay asleep in the genjutsu and get impaled by the kunai.

_Does it matter?_ he asks. _I like you either way_.

Her eyes narrow (annoyance and offense clashing into a whirl of anger) and she coldly retorts, _Oh, and I suppose it doesn't matter if I don't like you back_.

She storms off again, probably to meet up with the mutt.

_Tch._

-O-O-O-O-

He kisses her again at age 16, and she slaps his hand away from her face.

This time, he sees no issue with anything. She knew he liked her. He knew she broke up with Kiba months ago. They both knew that he was going to kiss her, and they both knew that she had let him before jerking away.

_What now?_ Sasuke asks as he angrily runs a hand through his hair.

_I can't, _she responds. _Not with you._

_Why? Why not me?_

_Because you're going to kill Itachi._

And everything suddenly crashes down around him.

_Unbelievable,_ he whispers. She steps towards him, but he steps away.

_So you're telling me to not go after the man who killed my family? The man who took everything away from me? You know what he did. You _saw_ it, like me._

_Sasuk—_ she tries.

_You saw the blood everywhere. You saw my parents, you saw Fumiko! You saw how he had stabbed her through the heart, how he stabbed his _fiancée_, and the way the blood mixed with her hair. You saw her laying there, eyes clouded. You saw all that, and you want me to let Itachi live?_

He knows that he's gone too far. Her face closes off and she stops trying to reach him.

_I do. I do want you to let him live. You don't know everything that happened that night, Sasuke, and I refuse to believe that Itachi, who loved you and Fumiko and his parents beyond reason, would just mindlessly slaughter his entire clan to "test his strength"._

She leaves him glaring at her chakra residue as she disappears.

-O-O-O-O-

After he learns, he kisses her.

_Please._

She doesn't slap him.

He recalls how Itachi poked him in the forehead before falling. _Sorry, Sasuke. Tell Hikari I'm sorry, again. I love you, Otouto. Maybe another time._

Then he was dead and everything was swirling around him in a vortex of confusion because Itachi shouldn't love him, he shouldn't be sorry, and his entire world is crumbling apart.

Until Danzo approaches him and tears his world down even more.

So he kills him, takes the arm that's implanted with Sharingan, and burns it before heading back to Konoha on autopilot, even though his chakra is almost gone and his injuries are causing him to lose blood at an alarming rate.

And when he makes it back, he immediately goes to her apartment, because he needs someone who will understand.

_Sasuke!_

He startles her when she's making smoke tags, and she hurries him towards her bathroom before pulling out the first aid kit.

_I killed Itachi._

Her hand still, and he can imagine the betrayal flickering across her face, and the words she'll say hanging in the air. He raises his eyes to hers with a weary acceptance, ready to take anything she does, even if it means losing contact with her forever.

Something changes when his eyes meet hers, and she stares back for a moment before slowly beginning to tend to his wounds.

_I see_, she murmurs. The silence stretches until she's done bandaging him, and he blurts, _I know why. I know everything. Danzo told me. I killed him too. Itachi says he's sorry._

He spills everything, burying his face in his hands, and she's horribly still again, mouth dropped.

Then he kisses her while she's still registering his words.

_Please_.

She lets him kiss her one more time before gently leading him to the kitchen.

_You need to eat and rest._

She gives him plenty of water and food, but he can barely keep down a mouthful, so she makes him change into some of Naruto's clothes and go to bed, _You can stay the night, _and when she turns to leave the room, he chokes out, _Don't go. Not now._

She faces him, but he can't meet her eyes again, and instead twists his hands in the covers, seeing Itachi's blood on them even though it had been washed off. He hears her sigh, and the bed sags under their combined weight.

She doesn't comment when he holds her tightly as if he would lose her too.

-O-O-O-O-

He wakes up to a hand stroking his hair.

_Sasuke, you need to get up._

He confuses Hikari for his mother at first, but remembers everything, and can't move.

Itachi, gone. His father, a traitor.

Hikari.

He wraps his arms around her and buries his face into her shoulder, but she pushes him off. _No, Sasuke. You won't heal like this._ And he knows that she's not talking about his injuries.

She urges him to go through the motions, that it'll keep him sane, and he placidly allows her to direct him around, wondering how she knows what to do.

Then he realizes that she was speaking from experience, and muses blankly about who she must have lost to be able to know.

She brings him along for team training, and he tags after her with a vacant expression on his face. Sakura freaks from his wounds and heals him, and Naruto yells nonsense at him like he always does, and Kakashi evaluates him with a keen eye, but Sasuke doesn't do anything except keep red hair in his vision.

He stays the night again.

-O-O-O-O-

The war starts, and he refuses to leave Hikari alone at any time, because he's already lost so many that he won't lose her, but the dead begin to rise and _Itachi is there smiling at him_, and he's fighting with them against the enemy, and Sasuke feels anger and hope and bittersweetness at seeing him again, but when he begins to glow and disappear, Sasuke panics, because Itachi is leaving him again.

Then Hikari is beside him and he can feel her chakra pulsing in the air, and Itachi pokes him, _I love you_, he closes his eyes and accepts that his family is gone.

Sasuke enters the war again with a new motivation, to revolutionize the world so that others won't have to lose everything they hold dear, and he's hopeful, even optimistic of their chances when Kaguya appears.

_I'm going to lose everything again._

But Naruto is dazzling and strong, and Sakura and Kakashi and Hikari are waiting for him, and they beat Kaguya somehow, against all odds, and _they won the war_.

And everyone's hugging each other, and Sasuke sees Naruto glomp Hinata and smirks, before feeling the steady chakra next to him, and turns to Hikari and sweeps her into his arms and kisses her.

Naruto is yelling and Sakura lets out a scandalized shriek and Kakashi just sighs and the others are surprised, but it doesn't matter because the war is _over_, and he's kissing Hikari, and _she's kissing him back_.

He can feel her smiling against his lips, and he knows that even though his blood family is gone, he still has friends that are family, and the future is in his arms, smiling up at him with a shining smile.

-O-O-O-O-

They marry at age 21.

When he moves to kiss her, she grabs his collar and pulls him forward, and _she's_ the one that kisses _him_.

-O-O-O-O-

A/N: Well, I'm satisfied with how that turned out.

This was requested by a guest reviewer. **CutieMochi00**, I'm sorry I couldn't do your request, but if I did, that would reveal spoilers, and we wouldn't want that, right?

Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last time!

Look toward the close future for the next official chapter of _Reaching_!


	2. Chapter 2: Skyshipping

Another request!

ROAD TO NINJA: Namikaze Hoshiko and Hyuga Neji (RTN!Hikari and RTN!Neji) (RTN!Skyshipping)

He likes the female body.

He can't help it; it's just so wonderful with all its sizes and figures and variation! His cousin says he "ogles" at all her friends, and he admits: he only sees their bodies and not their faces. He identifies girls by their bodies.

Except one.

Namikaze Hoshiko, daughter of Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina, legends in their own rights, and twin sister of Namikaze Menma, the boy dating Neji's cousin.

Whenever his eyes strayed past her collarbone, he always mentally Juuken'ed himself in the face.

_No. Bad._

He didn't exactly know why. Maybe it was because she was shy (that couldn't be it, Ino wasn't shy and he checked her out all the time), or because her parents were the Yellow Flash and the Bloody Habanero, or because her brother could, and would, kill him if he ever looked at her wrong.

Or maybe it's because ever since they were younger, she would smile freely, eyes lighting and cheeks dusting with a slight pink. And she would smile at _him_ (she still does), with no judgment or mistrust, like every other girl. She was innocent and got easily flustered; she was _cute_ and timid and kind, unlike his cousin.

So when he came across her in the Hyuga compound, long red hair secured in a loose sidebraid and wearing a large sweater that completely swallowed her entire form (which was good; he wouldn't be able to see anything even if he wanted to), he asked her why she happened to be there, to which she answered,

"Ah, I just told Hinata-san that Menma will be late for their," blushing before the next word, she said, "date.

When she blushed, she looked down in obvious embarrassment, and brought up a hand to twirl the end of her braid.

Neji brought up a hand to cover his face. He was blushing too; he knew it. Remembering the look she had on her face, his knees gave and he crouched on his heels.

_Too cute. Her expression is too cute_.

"Neji-san?"

Glancing through his fingers, he saw her worried face hovering over him. Her eyebrows were scrunched together, and mouth slightly parted.

Covering his face again, he said, "Please don't make faces like that." At her dumbfounded _Huh?_ he elaborated. "When you make faces like that, I don't know what to do."

Her eyes grew wide at this declaration, and he couldn't restrain himself anymore.

"I'm sorry about what happens next."

Quick as lightning, he got up and pulled her towards him, wrapping his arms around her and burying his face into the top of her head.

Her hair smelled like peaches.

She squeaked, but he cut her off before she got a chance to say anything.

"Is this okay?"

She was silent for some time before relaxing and resting her cheek over his heart.

"Yes."


	3. Chapter 3: High School AU, Part 1

High school AU (that my friend came up with for me, bless her heart. She ships Hikari with...well, you'll see in this)

REMINDER THAT ALL ONESHOTS I WRITE ARE NOT CANON UNLESS I SAY SO. THIS IS NOT CANON...OR IS IT? ONLY **_REACHING_** WILL REVEAL.

_Eyes of Fate_

-O-O-O-O-

Ever since she was born, Hikari could see fate.

Fate was a beautiful thing. The strings and threads that intertwined and wove together, connecting people, appearing when two people met, were in various colors and places. The threads could be there at birth, or appear randomly, and sometimes break.

Some, like green threads, stood for eternal rivalry. Others, such as a royal blue cord, meant true friendship, like the one both she and Naruto had that connected to Sasuke, whose entire family could see and cut threads of fate. And of course, there was the famous Red String of Fate that stood for fated lovers, like the one that her parents had on their pinkies.

Naruto's red string appeared today.

They had been running to the bus stop, because Naruto woke up late, and the umbrellas they were using had been completely useless. There was a purple-haired girl who was already waiting at the stop, and in his rush, Naruto had run into her.

"Ah, sorry!" he hastily apologized.

"Good job, Naruto. Great way to start our first day of high school!" Hikari sarcastically chirped. She turned to the other girl. "Sorry about my brother, he's an idiot at times."

"Hikari! That's mean!" Naruto whined.

She was about to retort when she saw his pinkie. _Red thread? But the only person that we met today is..._

Hikari whipped her head around and stared at the purple-haired girl, who was hesitantly answering Naruto's questions.

"So your name is Hyuuga Hinata? Cool! And you go to Konoha High too, right, because your uniform is the same as Hikari's! It's your first year? Wow, us too!"

There. On both Naruto and Hinata's pinkies: a red thread that _definitely_ wasn't Hikari's hair.

On the bus, she whispered to Naruto. "You have a new string."

"Really? Where? What color is it?"

"On your pinky. It's red."

Naruto let out a loud gasp that had the people around them aim them weird looks. "Shhh, don't be so loud!" Hikari hushed. Then, bending her head towards him as if conspiring, she breathed, "It's that Hinata girl."

Naruto almost gasped and craned his neck to see her, but Hikari slapped her hand over his mouth and grabbed his shirt collar.

"Remember, Naruto, that this doesn't mean you'll end up with her for sure. I've seen couples that had red strings that connected to other people, or broken strings, or have them appear while they were in a relationship. You have to work to protect the thread."

He pouted. "Okaaayyy, don't worry! It'll be fine!"

When the bus stopped in front of their school, Naruto raced ahead to catch up with Hinata. Hikari sighed as he tripped before regaining his balance.

"Clumsy idiot," a smooth voice droned.

Hikari smirked before turning around. "Hi, Sasuke."

"Hm."

They walked towards the school building in silence, before Hikari broke it. "Naruto got a red thread today." She received no response, but she could feel Sasuke's attention perk. "It's connected to that girl he was chasing. Hyuuga Hinata."

Sasuke hummed. "Hyuuga, huh? Like Hyuuga Neji?"

Hikari almost stopped walking. Oh Kami, how could she have not made that connection before? Hyuuga Neji was the bane of her existence. Hikari had taken advanced classes one year up ever since junior high, and that had put her in many classes with Hyuuga Neji, who would frequently tug her pigtails (which is why she changed her hair this year to letting it loose. There's no way she would let him touch her hair this year.) He had always scored a little higher, run a little faster, and always taunted her, saying that it was fate that put him ahead of her.

"...and what does he know about fate anyways? It's not like he can see it, like us," she ranted to Sasuke as he looked for his class placement. Hikari needed to check hers, but it was in the second-year corridor.

Sasuke sighed. "There's always going to be someone better than you," he remarked a little darkly. Hikari gave him a long look, reading the double meaning behind his words.

"Sasuke, Ita-"

Someone bumped into her, and her books fell to the ground. "Oh, sorry, let me get those for you."

"No, it's my mistake for standing in the middle of the hallway," she responded, eyes on her books. History, Math, Biology... where's English?

She looked up to ask the other person, because they probably had her English book, which was also when they looked up. Their eyes met and narrowed simultaneously.

"Hyuuga-san."

"Namikaze-san."

Hyuuga Neji dropped her English book into her arms. "I see you're going to be taking the same classes as me again this year. Do try to keep up."

She smiled poisonously at him. "I'm afraid I don't understand what you mean. There's nothing to keep up with."

His cheek muscle twitched, and Hikari could see him struggle to keep his expression smooth. _Ha, take that, Hyuuga. If there's one thing I'm better at, it's facial control. I can beat Uchihas!_

"Of course you don't understand, you never do."

Hikari just smiled at him again and turned around, grabbing Sasuke who was waiting for her with a bored look, ignoring his fangirls (who were everywhere, everyday). Sasuke gave her hand an annoyed look, before a huff left him.

"Hikari."

"Sasuke, I'm not in the mood."

"No, Hikari, you've got a red string on your hand."

"Sasuke, that's probably my hair. It falls out more now that it's not tied."

"Hikari, I mean it. It's around your pinky."

This time, she halted in her footsteps. _What?_

She risked a quick peek at her hand, and sure enough, there was a delicated thread of crimson tied tightly around her pinky finger. She closed her eyes and said with deceptive calm, "Please tell me it's not connected to you."

"I'll ignore the implications of that comment. No, it's not me."

She sighed with relief and opened her eyes to trace her thread. It led back to the direction of the class placement postings, and as her eyes trailed along it, it came to a stop at a very familiar hand. A hand that, in fact, had given her back her English textbook just a few minutes prior.

_No._

Hikari couldn't stop her eyes as they slowly went up the person's body to affirm her realization. She saw pants, a collared shirt, and the blue tie that second years had, unlike the green of first years and yellow of third years.

_Please tell me I'm wrong._

Her eyes slowly lifted to see a jawline that could belong to only one person.

_This is it. I'll see if I'm wrong or not._

Blue eyes met white.

And Hikari saw those eyes stare intensely into her own, so intensely that her breathing almost stopped. And even when Sasuke tugged on her sleeve, and a second year with a bowl cut shook Neji, they didn't break eye contact.

Hikari felt a warmth tingle in her throat, which spread up her neck to her ears and face. Why? Why is it him, of all people? Even Sasuke would be better.

And Hyuuga Neji tilted his head before smiling- _smiling! At her! What the hell?_\- and turning away.

-O-O-O-O-

A/N: GUYS, I'M BACK.

AND I'M IN LOVE WITH THIS AU. SERIOUSLY, I MIGHT WRITE AN ENTIRE FIC BASED OFF OF _**REACHING**_ WITH THIS AU. (BUT SHIPS MAY BE DIFFERENT).

In other news: I'M BACK.

I'll update _**Reaching**_ later today. Bye!


	4. Chapter 4: Pokemon AU, Part 1

**ONESHOT REQUEST:** Hikari and Takahiro, Survivalshipping

**_Pokemon AU, Part 1_**

-O-O-O-O-

"Leader! There is a challenger who has bypassed both of the top trainees, and the three beginners! He wishes to battle you!"

A young aide by the name of Alton stood at attention in front of her. Hikari was crouched, feeding a group of Poliwags.

"Alton, I told you to call me Hikari, not Leader," she said as she stood, stretching her legs. The Poliwags whined, crowding around her feet. She handed the bag of food to Alton, who immediately took over her task.

"But you're the Gym Leader!" Alton protested, lowering a hand of food to the ground. The Poliwags gathered happily around him, pushing for the food.

"I'm only the leader of the fourth gym in the circuit, and the youngest one too," she argued, pulling her fingerless battle gloves over her fingers. She checked the condition of her Pokeballs, smiling when the one holding her Pidove shook.

"19 isn't that young," Alton shot back. "You're still a leader."

"You're just saying that because you're 14. Are you calling me old?" she loomed, pinching his cheek. He blushed, flustered.

"No! I meant, uh, I wasn't saying that you're old, just that you're-" he stopped trying to justify himself when he saw the teasing grin on her face. "Leader!"

She shot him another smile. "Take care of those Poliwags for me. They need to rest after eating, and-"

"-exercise for 15 minutes. I know, Leader, I've been doing this for a year."

"Well, aren't you the little expert." Hikari left the Poliwag habitat and headed down the corridor leading to her gym's battle stage.

"Hikari!"

A boy and girl ran up to her.

"The challenger is really good! He beat me, then Udon!" said Moegi. "He's really cool too!"

"I recommend proceeding with caution," Udon said, pushing his glasses up with a finger. "He knows what he's doing."

_Interesting_.

"Thanks for the warning. For now, why don't you two rest? You've worked hard, trying to beat the challenger," Hikari suggested.

"No way! We wanna watch your battle!"

She shrugged and stepped through the doors. Upon entering the arena, she saw a male with straw-colored hair and brown eyes jumping fidgeting, jumping from foot to foot. He saw her and smiled.

"Wow, you're as pretty as you look on TV! A little shorter than expected, though," he exclaimed, running a hand through his hair.

"Oh, bad move," Moegi whispered behind her.

Hikari's eyes narrowed, and she straightened her back.

"What's your name, challenger?" she asked, placing her hand on her waist near her belt holding her Pokeballs.

"My name is Takahiro, and I'm going to become the next Champion."

"Well, Takahiro, by the time this battle is over, you'll know I'm more than a pretty face," she said, glaring at him icily. "How many Pokemon do you have in your party?"

"Oh, um, four," he replied, thrown off by her hostility.

"I'll use four as well. One-on-one battle, allowing for swaps when your Pokemon is unable to continue battling. The first to run out of Pokemon is the victor." Hikari jumped off the Gym Leader's platform and landed on the arena floor.

"And one more thing," she said, picking a Pokeball off her belt. "Unlike some other Leaders, I fight alongside my Pokemon."

She threw the Pokeball down at her feet, and the battle began.

-O-O-O-O-

"Whoa, she began with her Skarmory right off the bat!" Moegi raved, shaking Udon's arm.

"Yes, but her challenger is using a Rhyhorn. He has a type advantage," Udon replied, brows furrowing.

"But she's flying on Skarmory. If Rhyhorn can't reach them, it's a matter of shaving down the points."

"You seem to have forgotten," Udon sniffed, "that he has beaten the entire gym except for our Leader. True, his Pokemon may be tired, especially if he doesn't have any Potions or Restores, but he is skilled."

"Hikari is good too," Moegi persisted. "She could have been Champion of the Elite Four if she wanted to."

"But she didn't, for some reason," Udon's frown deepened. "And no one knows why."

-O-O-O-O-

Sometimes, Hikari disliked her job.

She loved battling. She loved her Pokemon. But sometimes, just sometimes, she found herself loathing the string of challengers who entered her gym, expecting an easy win and pretty smile. There were too many challengers who were in it for the glory and money, for arrogance, and most of them weren't good enough to give her a thrill.

Leaders weren't just obstacles for aspiring trainers and Pokemon masters. They were judges. Occasionally, even if a challenger with weak Pokemon approached with the right personality, the right heart, and the right motivation, leaders lost on purpose. Leaders were a system of requirements, passing on the challenger to the next gym to be tested on another characteristic or trait, and eventually try to become the Champion. Leaders _created _the Champion.

After all, the Champion was the face of the Pokemon community. The Champion needed to be charismatic, authoritative, strong, and popular. The Champion needed to be a hero.

Hikari was the most resented by the community. She knew the hateful comments that the community, made up of mostly the wrong type of challengers who she prevented from advancing, aimed at her.

They said she got her job because she was pretty, not because she was skilled.

Because the Champion was her brother.

Because she had connections.

_Because she slept with the right people at the right times._

The job of the fourth gym, the gym at the exact middle of the circuit, was the most crucial checkpoint. It was the gym that tested the resolve and reasons.

Most people, of any gender, approached her gym to see what she really looked like in real life, or to score a date. They either came with the sole purpose to impress her or insult her. Her claim to fame was her face and her family name.

But there was one thing the public didn't know.

Her gym had the most repeat challengers and losses of challengers recorded.

And Hikari was determined to put this Takahiro, this _boy_, down as another loss.

"No, Rhyhorn!" Takahiro cried out. She could see the confusion in his face as his Rhyhorn fainted. After all, Rhyhorn had a type advantage against Skarmory.

"Don't just saunter in with a type advantage and expect to win. It doesn't matter when my Skarmory is at a much higher level anyways. You probably used your Rhyhorn the entire time earlier, didn't you?" she taunted. "You expected to breeze through this gym and eventually become Champion for money and girls."

Takahiro gritted his teeth. "That's not why I want to become Champion."

She quirked a brow, landing her Skarmory. "Oh? Please, enighten me. Change my world with a new perspective."

He gripped a Pokeball tightly, fingers white from the force he was gripping it with. "I promised to myself when I was younger that I would become Champion, because I love battling. I love the thrill, the rush I get when my opponent is good, and I love Pokemon. I want to become Champion because I'd be able to battle anytime, with anyone!" He threw the Pokeball, and a Charmeleon came out. "Charmeleon! Flamethrower!"

She swore as her Skarmory bucked her off and extended its wings over her, shielding her from the flames. It groaned and collapsed.

"Thank you," she whispered, recalling it. She raised her head, meeting the determined eyes of Takahiro.

And then she knew what the outcome of the battle needed to be.

"Plan B," she told her Fearow as it emerged from the Pokeball with a flash. It dipped its head at her, and waited for her to mount its back.

"Alright," she called. "Let's see what you've got. Fearow, Peck!"

Fearow dove towards the scampering Charmeleon, neck extended. At the last minute, it turned its beak aside by the slightest angle, and missed.

Charmeleon shook its head, shaking off the fright. Takahiro's eyes watched Hikari and Fearow carefully, then darkened with anger.

"HEY! Don't go easy on me! Take me seriously!" he yelled.

"I am taking you seriously," she lied easily.

"No, you're not! Who ever heard of a flying type _missing,_ with a Peck of all things? Your Fearow is in top condition, with no status condition, and it's at a really high level too, I bet! Don't go easy on me for whatever reason you decided!"

_Well, this is new_.

Takahiro picked up his Charmeleon and threw it at her Fearow. "Charmeleon, Self Destruct!"

_Wait, what?! How does a Charmeleon know that move?_

She grunted as she began to plummet to the ground. Recalling her Fearow, she called for her next Pokemon. "Gyarados!"

Hikari sighed with relief as her descent was halted by Gyarados's familiar head with a jolt. "Thanks, boy," she said as she pat his head. It grumbled in response.

"Prepare yourself," she warned, smirking at Takahiro's stunned and slightly fearful expression.

-O-O-O-O-

Alton hummed as he entered the stadium. He was met with the glaring face of a Gyarados.

"What the-!"

A hand yanked him to the side. "Alton, you missed so much!" Moegi exclaimed. "The battle's been going on for more than 30 minutes! They're down to their third Pokemon out of four!"

His mouth dropped. "Leader never lets her battles go over ten minutes though! What's so special about this battle?"

Udon interrupted Moegi before she could speak.

"Look closely."

He pointed at Hikari, who was panting on top of her Gyarados. Below them, Takahiro was wiping sweat off his forehead, shouting at a Ninetales.

"She's smiling. It's been so long since she smiled during a gym battle. _She's having fun_."

-O-O-O-O-

Hikari felt like doubling over with laughter. Takahiro's Ninetales refused to listen to him.

"You don't have enough badges to train that Ninetales," she said.

Takahiro gave her a grumpy look. "I know, I know! But if I could just get it to listen even once..."

"That's too bad, because I won't give you the time to do that," she grinned. "Gyarados, Watergun!"

Ninetales flicked its tails in an annoyed manner, and quickly evaded. Its eyes glinted with annoyance, and it rammed Gyarados at the base of its tail, finally bringing its HP down to zero. Then, it returned to its Pokeball, to the dismay of Takahiro.

"Ah, well, I guess I can't do anything about it," he sighed.

They stood across from each other, the wind from the backlash of Gyarados and Ninetales's returns brushing their hair away from their faces. They threw their last Pokeballs at the same time.

"Go, Eevee!"

"Growlithe, let's light this place up— wait, what? Why do you have an Eevee? Aren't you a water and flying type gym leader?"

She smiled genuinely. "Eevee is special to me. It was my first Pokemon. Besides, if you're really going to be Champion, you'll need to be ready for surprises."

"My Eevee may not be evolved, but it's strong. Don't take it lightly."

"I didn't plan on it. My Growlithe has abnormal HP, so you should be careful too." He shot her a charming grin.

Something warm fluttered in her pleasantly at the sight, but she ignored the feeling and ordered Eevee to attack. "Do whatever you want, just take his Growlithe down." It chirped in affirmation.

"You too, Growlithe! Do whatever you want! I'm trusting you on this!"

The two Pokemon circled each other, waiting for the other to make the first move. Finally, Growlithe lunged, and the fight began.

At first, Eevee fared better than Growlithe. It used Secret Power, keeping its distance from the bigger Pokemon. Then, Growlithe began closing the distance. It used Take Down, Bite, Flamethrower, and Agility, gradually whittling away at Eevee's HP. Finally, it bit down and didn't let go.

The Eevee cried out, looking towards Hikari, but Hikari didn't give any directions. All she said was, "Plan B."

Then suddenly, both Pokemon were on the ground, fainted.

Takahiro gaped at the Pokemon. "What just happened?"

Hikari sighed with a wry grin. "Eevee used Double Edge and knocked both of them out. A double K.O."

"Damn," Takahiro pouted. "I guess I'll have to try again next time."

She paused in putting Eevee's Pokeball away. "Actually…"

She strode up to him, surreptitiously pulling her Badge, the Chain Badge, out of her pocket. She stopped when she was right in front of him, close enough that if she leaned a little bit closer, her nose would touch his chest.

She tilted her head to one side, examining his face and eyes. He was startled, eyes a bit wide, and he reflexively took a step back.

"Here," Hikari said, picking up his hand and dropping the Chain Badge into it. "You earned this."

"But—"

"You're lacking in technique. Your Pokemon need to be a little more balanced in terms of your party, and you really need to work on thinking before talking to Gym Leaders." His face fell.

"But," she continued, voice softening, "I remembered, finally, when I was battling you, how fun battling could really be. We weren't Leader versus Challenger; we were equals, Trainer against Trainer. And that's something I haven't felt in a long time. So thank you. You helped me remember, and through that, you earned the Chain Badge."

She geared up for the lecture that she always gave about the Chain Badge, and how it stood for unbreakable bonds and protection of resolve, but Moegi suddenly intervened and pulled Takahiro away.

"It's getting late! We have extra lodgings in the Gym, and a place where you can heal your Pokemon, so you should stay the night!" Moegi looked over her shoulder and winked at Hikari's stunned face.

"Wait, Moegi—"

Udon appeared at her side. "We've decided to keep him here for another day. You'll be spending time with him tomorrow for the entire day, a date, if you will, and we'll close the gym. We'll take over your usual chores as well."

"Don't worry, Leader! I'll take care of all the Pokemon for you!" Alton chirped from the stands.

"Udon, I honestly don't understand what's going on. Why would you do that?"

"Haven't you noticed?" Udon asked. "He makes you happy."

"Besides," he continued, "You're attracted to him, and he's attracted to you. It's obvious," he smirked.

His smirk fell when Hikari slapped him upside his head.

"I liked you better when you weren't such a cheeky kid," she grumbled.

Hikari closed her eyes and tilted her head back. She remembered how her heart had raced with anticipation during the battle, and how it fluttered when Takahiro had shot that rogue-ish grin at her. She remembered the heat that had risen to her cheeks, partially from her anger when he mentioned her appearance, but also from how attractive he'd looked running a hand through his hair.

"Alright," she conceded. "I'll give it a try."

-O-O-O-O-

A/N: Wow, I had fun writing this.

Don't worry, there may be a Part 2 after this! Anon, I hope you enjoyed this, since it was your request.

_Reaching_ will be updated sometime soon.

See you next time!


	5. Chapter 5: Skyshipping, Alphashipping

**ONESHOT REQUEST**: Hikari and Neji, Skyshipping; slight Hikari and Kiba, Alphashipping

**For kpopisawesome: In which Neji gets jealous and Hikari gets angry. Takes place during the timeskip, no AU (not necessarily canon, however).**

-O-O-O-O-

"Ehhhhhhh?!" Ino screeched. "Date?!"

Kiba grinned, baring his fangs at them. The girls of the Rookie 9, Ten Ten, and Hikari were seated in front of a café, eating dango.

"Yup!" he said. "Hikari, go out on a date with me!"

She stopped chewing, considering the proposal. "Hmm," she mused, eyes contemplative. "Is there any reason why?"

"It'll be fun," he said, scratching his cheek with a finger, "and you're pretty." Her hand jerked. "Plus, I get along best with you out of all the girls I know."

"O-oh."

They turned to see Hinata with her head down, poking her fingers together.

"I, I meant in a non-sister-brother way! You're like a sister, Hinata!" Kiba flailed.

Hinata brightened. "Okay."

Kiba turned back to Hikari. "So, what do you say? Do you want to spend a day with the one and only, super hot Inuzuka Kiba?" He pointed his thumb at himself, running his other hand through his hair.

"You're not hot," Hikari deadpanned. She bit the last dumpling off the skewer and threw the skewer at a nearby target, put there for the amusement of shinobi (and, Hikari suspected, one Mitarashi Anko, an avid dango-eater and well known regular at the café she was at). It hit the middle, knocking out the previous stick. "But you're pretty cute. Alright, why not?" she agreed.

"Great! Meet me tomorrow in front of Seishin's Weapons Shop at nine! Wear your training gear," he said, pumping a fist in the air. He quickly ran off, leaving the girls blinking and Hikari reaching for another skewer of dango.

"Oh Kami," Sakura breathed. "Did this just happen? It did, right? I'm not hallucinating? This is really happening. Hikari is actually going to do something in her leisure time other than training."

"Hey, I take offense to that. But it's true, I guess," Hikari affirmed, finishing off another stick.

"…but why? You like someone else," Ino's confused voice rang out softly.

She turned her blue eyes onto Ino's own baby blues.

"Weellll," she drawled. "Like I said, Kiba is pretty cute. He's fun to be around, and he has a puppy. I might as well enjoy myself. Besides, I'm good at dealing with his type." When she saw Ino's confused face, she added, "Loud, hyper, and slightly stupid, but well-meaning and sweet. Like Naruto and Takahiro. Except Takahiro isn't sweet."

Understanding dawned on Ino's face.

"I guess you have a point there," she admitted. "He _is_ pretty cute, and it's just one date. Okay!" She slammed a palm flat onto the table they were seated at. "Crash course in dating at my house! Let's go!"

Hikari barely thought, _Oh, crap_, before she was being whisked away by Ino by her elbow. She managed to throw some money onto the table, and finally let herself be dragged.

There was no stopping Ino when she had her mind set.

Hinata and Sakura followed, but Ten Ten said goodbye. "Sorry," she said, making a sympathetic face at her plight, "but I have something I need to do."

"Ten Ten, you traitor."

They arrived at Ino's house, entering through the flower shop and climbing the stairs to the apartment on top of the store.

"I'm home! And I brought my friends with me!" Ino called.

"That's fine!" her mother called back.

Ino pushed Hikari into her room, and slammed the door shut behind Hinata and Sakura. "Alright," she said, lips curving into an evil smirk.

"Let's begin."

-O-O-O-O-

Neji's form faltered as he reeled from shock.

"What?" he demanded, whirling to face Ten Ten.

"Hikari is going on a date with Kiba. I thought you'd want to know, because you really like her," she repeated.

He opened his mouth to reply, frown deepening, but Gai interrupted.

"Neji, do not stop in your training! You will never reach the Springtime of your Youth at this pace! 100 more repetitions!"

Neji glared at nothing in particular as he leapt into another string of katas. "I do not 'really like her'," he hissed.

"I'm sure," Ten Ten agreed amiably, pulling out her kunai. "They're meeting in front of Seishin's Weapons Shop at nine tomorrow."

"I don't care."

But he knew he did, and so did Ten Ten.

-O-O-O-O-

The next day, Hikari found herself being followed by a mass of familiar chakra signatures as she walked to the meeting spot.

_Let's see, that's Ino, Sakura, Takahiro, Shikamaru, Chouji, Hinata, Shino, Ten Ten and Neji_.

She blinked. _Wait, Neji_?

Well, that was a surprise. She shrugged it off. "Hi, Kiba," she said, spotting him waiting with his puppy, Akamaru. "Hi, Akamaru. Did you two wait for very long?"

"Nah. Besides, I'd wait for you my entire life if I had to." He winked, cracking another grin at her.

She rolled her eyes, but smiled. "Let's just go. What are we doing today?"

"That's a surprise," he teased, reaching out and intertwining their fingers. He tugged on their hands. "Let's go!"

A burst of chakra made her jump, which caused Kiba to give her a questioning glance. _That was Neji. Did something happen?_ As Kiba led her to their destination, Hikari glanced down at their joined hands. "A bit forward for the first date, isn't it?"

"First date, huh? Are you expecting more dates then?"

She flushed, averting her eyes. "No, I'm just saying-"

Kiba laughed. "I know, I know. But there might not be another date, you know? We both came for a fun day, not a relationship, so I want to do as many coupley things as possible today. Plus, I finally got to see you embarrassed!" He reached with his other hand and tapped her nose with a finger.

"Careful, Inuzuka. I bite." She clacked her teeth together for emphasis.

"Ooooh, scary. I might be shaking in by sandals."

She smiled sweetly and gripped his hand hard, channeling chakra to crush his fingers.

"OW- ow, okay, OW- I'm sorry!" he cried. She merely closed her fist tighter.

"What was that?"

"I'M SORRY!"

"Good."

-O-O-O-O-

Ino barely restrained a squeal as Kiba took Hikari's hand. She repeatedly hit Takahiro's shoulder out of excitement.

"Ino, that hurts!" he whispered.

"Look at them! They're being so cute, I can't handle it! If they actually started to date-"

Chakra exploded. Everyone flinched, looking around for the source.

Hinata found it first. "Neji-nii-san..." she trailed off.

Neji stood up straight, seemingly oblivious to the fact that chakra was streaming off of him in angry waves. He stalked away from their hiding spot, following Kiba and Hikari.

"Oh, boy," Ten Ten muttered as she hurried to follow him.

Ino and Takahiro exchanged a glance.

"You don't think..."

"No. No way. They're always snarking at each other. Even if that's Hikari's way of showing affection."

"But what if?"

"No. Not Hikari. Hikari is mine," Takahiro pouted. "I'm being nice and letting Kiba borrow her only for today. No more after that. No Neji, no Kiba, no one. Mine."

Ino facevaulted. "She's not yours."

"Yes, she is."

"No, she's not. If anything, Naruto has claim because they're sib-"

"Can you guys shut up? Man, so troublesome," Shikamaru yawned.

"Yeah, what Shikamaru said," Chouji added, stuffing a handful of chips into his mouth.

"Ugh, whatever," both Ino and Takahiro said.

-O-O-O-O-

Hikari glanced behind her, but she couldn't spot any of her friends.

"Hey, Kiba," she said, tugging on his hand. "Do you know we're being followed?"

"Yeah, I can smell them," he confirmed. "They're upwind from us."

"Do you want to do anything about it?" she asked, eyeing him from the side of her eye. He eyed her back.

"Like what?"

"Well," she began. "You had us wear our training gear, so I'm assuming we're going to do an activity that requires some form of training. We could _accidentally_ cause something to happen to them. You know, _by accident_, if you get what I mean."

He stared at her for a couple more seconds. "Hikari..."

"... I think I'm in love."

She smacked his shoulder with her free hand. "Oh, shut up."

"No, but really, I like the way you think. Let's do it! Ah, we're here."

She looked up to see a huge building. _Wait..._

"Are you serious? We could get killed in here!"

"It's just an obstacle course."

"Yeah, an obstacle course that our senseis couldn't even complete. Kiba, we're going to die."

He smirked. "Don't worry about it! There are levels: Civilian, Academy student, Genin, Chunin, Special Jounin, Jounin, ANBU, and Hokage. Our senseis tried the Hokage one. We can do the Genin one, since I'm a Chunin and you're a Special Jounin, and work our way up. There are people to make sure nothing bad happens. The worst thing that can happen is a broken bone."

Then, he snickered, "Besides, our friends will have trouble following us here."

"Let's go," she said immediately, marching in.

-O-O-O-O-

"They're insane!" Ino shouted. "Crazy! They're committing suicide together!"

Takahiro was unresponsive, face white and body stiff. Ten Ten's mouth dropped open.

"Oh, Kami," Sakura breathed. "What do we do?"

"Notifying our senseis would be the best course of action to take. Why? Because their skill level far surpasses our own," Shino suggested. No one responded to his statement, or gave any form of acknowledgment.

"I'm going," Neji growled.

"Wait, Neji, that's not a good idea," Ten Ten objected. He whirled around, tense.

"I am a Jounin," he emphasized through gritted teeth. "Just like our senseis. I am the same rank as them. I'm far more skilled than the rest of you, and thus, I have a higher chance of survival than you. This is merely an obstacle course. I can defeat it, and that irritating Inuzuka, easily."

He strode into the building, leaving the rest gaping at him.

Takahiro was the first to recover. "Wait up, you bastard!" he shouted after him. "I'm a Jounin too!"

-O-O-O-O-

Hikari grinned as she leapt from her position, launching herself into a backflip over the projectiles that were being hurled at her from the machines installed throughout the course.

"Hurry up," she called to Kiba, who was behind her by about several meters. "You're going to lose at this rate."

"Just watch! Fastest shinobi of our generation or not, I'm going to beat you!"

"Give it up, my specialization as Special Jounin is my agility and Ninjutsu. You'll never win," she laughed, reaching the end of the Genin obstacle course.

He slumped in defeat as he reached her a few seconds later. "Well, what's my punishment for losing?"

She tilted her head to the right, appreciating the way his muscles flexed as he stretched. She was, after all, fifteen. "Let's go with a piggyback ride, since the theme of today is doing couple-like stuff. But later, not during the obstacle course."

"Sounds good to me. Onward to Chunin level!" He held her hand again as they walked over to the new course.

Hikari smiled slightly as Kiba began swinging their arms and humming a slight tune. Although they weren't actually a couple, it felt nice to imitate other couples.

"Do you need a handicap?" she asked as they arrived at the gate of the next course. "I can start a few seconds later."

"No, I think I can manage just fine," he replied, sauntering closer. The gates opened, but Hikari was distracted by the sensation of a pair of chapped lips on her cheek. She froze, blood rushing up her neck, and Kiba just smiled before leaping into the course.

She stood, petrified, for about half a minute, until she realized what just happened.

_That sly bastard!_

-O-O-O-O-

Takahiro cursed as Neji pushed off in front of him, kicking dust into his face.

"Damn it, Neji, you need to calm down!"

"I am calm," he said, clearly agitated.

"No, you're not," Takahiro said, leaping over the flying projectiles the same way Hikari had earlier. "There's no reason why you should be so upset, too. Why do you even care?"

"Why do you?" Neji shot back.

"I'm just protective of her," Takahiro admitted. "I promised some people that I'd watch over her. So why are you so upset?"

Neji struggled to find the right answer. "Kiba taking Hikari on a date... it's improper."

Takahiro raised an eyebrow, dubious. "What are we in, the Warring States Era?"

"...I may be attracted to her as well."

Takahiro nodded, a knowing look on his face. "Yeah, I totally sympathize with you- wait, WHAT?"

Neji flushed, looking to the side. "I said that I'm slightly attracted to Hikari."

"So, you have a crush on her is what you're saying? No. No, no, no. Not allowed," Takahiro said, making an X with his arms. He jumped as a metal bar sweeped under his feet.

"Why not? She's her own person, and she can make her own decisions," Neji argued, doing handsprings through a series of pendulums.

"Which is why you're chasing after Kiba and Hikari to stop their date, right? Because that constitutes letting her make her own decision."

"I did let her make it. I just disapprove."

They touched down at the end gate, and walked out in stony silence.

Neji turned to Takahiro with a flick of his hair. "Alright then," he said, challenging Takahiro with a glint in his eyes. "We're both hypocrites. What are you going to do about it?"

They glared at each other, muscles stiffening. Then, Takahiro sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"Can we agree to just, I don't know, get along? At least for today," he suggested.

"We're still going to stop the date, right?"

"Of course."

They entered the next course, the Chunin leveled one. Takahiro caught a glimpse of red hair vanishing through the exit on the other end.

"They just finished. If we hurry, we can catch up. Let's go."

They entered the fray, eyes blazing with the fire of determination.

They were prepared for anything and everything, and would do anything and everything to stop the date.

Nothing was going to get in their way.

-O-O-O-O-

Hikari snickered as Takahiro's eyes widened in recognition at one of her seal traps, but it was too late for him and Neji. The seals activated, sending up walls of solid chakra that converged at the top.

Of course, that wouldn't stop them for long, so she had set another seal, to be triggered when the first trap was broken. That seal cast a quadruple layer genjutsu on its victims, and steadily absorbed their chakra. And also drenched them in gallons of sludge.

Kiba held his hand up for a high five. She slapped it hard.

"This is great," he praised, wincing. "Let's hurry before they actually break out." Right as he said that, the chakra walls shattered to pieces, broken by Neji's Jyuuken. She glanced back to see the backlash from the break push Neji's hair away from his face, which was set in a regal frown. He stood tall, body firmly set in a form.

Her heart raced a little faster.

Hikari and Kiba ran away from the curses sounding from Chunin course (she suspected that the second trap had sprung). "Do you actually want to continue with the obstacle course? It's almost time for lunch," Kiba asked.

She thought about it for a few seconds, then decided, "Let's go while we can, and grab something to eat. I'm not that hungry though."

"Ice cream, then!"

They left the building, laughing and chattering over inane things and ignoring the screams of fury that followed them out. They casually snuck past their friends, who were still waiting by the entrance. Hikari was pretty sure that Hinata and Shino knew they were there, but they didn't say anything.

"Here," Kiba said, handing her a cone of strawberry ice cream. She eyed him suspiciously. _If that's a joke about my hair color..._

"Thanks." They finished their cones with next to no conversation, relishing in the cold sweetness that ice cream brought on a relatively warm day.

When they were done, Kiba suddenly bent down in front of her, presenting her with his back. "I promised, didn't I?"

She began to flush again. "I was just joking about that."

"Oh. That's too bad then, I guess. Too bad for you."

_Huh?_

"Akamaru!"

The dog yipped in reply, and tackled the back of her legs. She fell onto Kiba's back with a squeak that she would forever deny ever came out of her mouth, and they were off.

Kiba walked towards the training grounds, the closest thing to a park in Konoha. Hikari had no idea what to do with herself. What if she was awkwardly positioned? Was she too stiff? Would relaxing be better? But people got heavier when they relaxed, right? And what was she even supposed to do with her hands? And Kami damn it, she was still blushing. She remained motionless the entire time, afraid of doing anything.

When Kiba finally stopped, she sighed with relief and slid off his back. "Thanks."

Hikari sat on the grass, and pat the seat next to her.

"So, is the date over?" she asked.

"Well, I kinda didn't have anything else planned," Kiba replied, rubbing his head as he plopped down next to her. "Except…"

She glanced at him, surprised. Kiba never hesitated with his words. "What is it?"

"I never gave you a punishment for the Chunin obstacle course, which I needed to do, since I sort of beat you."

She bristled. "You did not beat me. You used unfair tactics to achieve your goal."

"Uh, Hikari? I don't know if you've ever gotten the memo, but we're shinobi. We're supposed to use unfair tactics. That's the entire point of being shinobi." His eyes gleamed with a light that made her shiver.

"I won't be too mean."

Then Kiba was on top of her, his warm weight pressing her back flat against the ground and pinning her in place. His eyes were boring intensely into her own, leaving her breathless, and one of his hands reached up to cup her face. He traced her cheek with his thumb, and Hikari was suddenly very, very aware that an attractive, toned, fifteen year old boy was currently hovering over her with his face so close to hers that their noses were almost touching, and somewhere, in the back of her mind, she was faintly thinking that screw the person she liked, having her first kiss with Kiba wasn't such a bad thing.

At this thought, her arms automatically came up and wrapped around his neck, bringing him several centimeters closer.

"You really are pretty," Kiba whispered, his breath fanning across her lips and causing tingles to travel down her spine as she flushed.

"No, I'm not."

"You're right," he agreed. "I take that back. You're beautiful."

_Beautiful_. He called her _beautiful_.

But before Hikari could follow that train of thought, Kiba finally closed the few centimeters between them, and his lips touched hers.

They weren't soft, and there were no fireworks going off. His lips were chapped, rough, and inexperienced, but they were _warm_, and when he began to move them, she thought that her insides would melt because the kiss was so undeniably sweet and so _him_, just like the rest of the date had been.

She finally began to respond, tilting her head for a better angle and closing her eyes, relishing in the feeling of his lips against hers, the grass against her back, and his warmth surrounding her. An idea struck her, and she began to open her mouth—

And Kiba's weight was gone.

Her eyes flew open, and she sat up in confusion to see Kiba sprawled on the ground several feet from her, with Neji standing over him.

"What the hell?" Kiba snarled, wiping his mouth of blood.

"What the hell, indeed," Neji shot back. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Takahiro appeared at her side. "Are you okay? Did he try anything else with you? Are you hurt?"

He tried to help her up, but she was analyzing the situation (at a speed waaaayyyy below her level. The kiss really fogged up her brain, she guessed).

Neji was in an offensive posture against a fellow Konoha shinobi.

Akamaru was subdued, whimpering.

Takahiro was positioning his body between her and the ensuing confrontation.

And Kiba was on the ground, hurt.

Hurt because of Neji.

Neji hurt Kiba.

Neji hurt another Konoha shinobi with the intent to harm.

Ice crept into her veins.

"How dare you," she seethed, throwing off Takahiro's attempt to help. "How dare you attack another shinobi like this! I am _disgusted_ by both of your behaviors, and _insulted_ that you don't believe in my capability to defend myself! That you don't trust in my judgment of Kiba's character, that you DON'T RESPECT MY DECISION!"

Neji visibly frowned. "Hikari-san—"

"NO!" she shouted. "Do not 'Hikari-san' me! I'm fifteen—"

"And we're sixteen and Jounin," Takahiro interrupted.

"And yet," she said, voice low and eyes narrowed into dangerous slits, "who is it that beats you in every spar? Who is it that makes the decisions during missions? Rank and age mean _shit_ compared to skills and correct judgment! I am perfectly allowed and capable of making my own decisions and suffering whatever consequences there may be. We all are, and _were_, ever since we were active in the field, ever since we were Genin."

She made her way over to Kiba, purposefully bumping into Neji with her shoulder. She helped Kiba up, and they made their way over to Akamaru. She turned around to shoot Takahiro and Neji a glare that froze them in their tracks.

"I'm not coming over for dinner tonight," she state slowly, addressing Takahiro. "And I don't want to see either of you for a very long time. Goodbye."

-O-O-O-O-

"Sorry," Hikari apologized. She dabbed at Kiba's split lip with a wet cloth, wincing as it trickled more blood.

"Don't worry about it," Kiba said, voice distorted from an effort to not move his lips and disturb her administrations. "I'm just sad that I won't be able to give you a goodbye kiss."

She gave him a light shove. How could he even joke about something like that at this time? Her motions ceased, and she stared at the ground.

Kiba noticed. "Hey, you okay?"

She laughed once, bitterly. "Shouldn't I be asking you that?" Her eyes came up to make contact for a moment before looking back at the ground, but it was enough to Kiba to know what was wrong.

Hikari was angry (of course she would be; who wouldn't be after what happened?), but beyond that, beyond the anger and disgust and disappointment, she was _sad_. And, Kiba suspected, she was probably sad because she thought that some of the people she trusted the most weren't the people she thought they were.

Everyone knew how much trust mattered to her.

"Neji and Takahiro aren't bad people," he said suddenly, startling her.

"They hurt you," she replied immediately.

"Well, yeah," he admitted, "I'm upset over that, obviously, but they're good people. They were probably just jealous and overprotective. I mean, if the girl I liked was kissing another guy, I'd punch him too. Or if it was Hinata. Hinata is precious."

Hikari frowned. "I get Takahiro being overprotective, but I don't understand why Neji would be jealous or overprotective. It doesn't make sense."

Kiba stared at her. "You really don't know?"

"Know what?"

"Wow, I thought everyone knew," he mused, rubbing his chin.

"Kiba."

He flinched at her exhausted tone. "Well, Neji likes you. It explains why he was so upset."

-O-O-O-O-

The next day, Hikari woke up to a beautiful morning and an ugly, chaotic mess to face.

She'd gone to bed with tumultuous thought that conflicted with each other. She was angry, undeniably so. But Neji liked her. But that didn't excuse his actions. Or Takahiro's, for that matter.

But the person she liked… it was Neji.

But that was getting emotionally involved, wasn't it? But wasn't she already emotionally involved, since she was angry?

She groaned, burying her face into her pillow. Why was everything so complicated? Why couldn't they all just go back to the days when they kicked the ass of anyone who dared oppose them and threaten the lives of their loved ones and innocent people?

A knock on her apartment door brought her out of her tormented musings. She sensed a chakra signature that she dreaded, and dragged herself out of bed to confront the person standing on the other side of the door.

"I thought I told you I didn't want to see you," she muttered, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes and leaning against her doorframe.

Hyuuga Neji stood before her, holding a white flower. _Asphodel_, she took note, _for "regret"._

"I'm here to apologize," he stated in an infuriatingly calm manner.

"What about Kiba? Did you apologize to him?" she demanded. When she received no response, she said, "I thought so," and closed the door with a click.

The other side of the door was silent for a moment, then Neji said through the wood, "I'll leave this here, then." Hikari waited several moments before opening the door to peek out.

In front of her, the asphodel lay on the ground.

-O-O-O-O-

Every day, he came.

Every day, he brought a flower with a different meaning. A yellow rose, which could mean "jealousy" or "apology". An ornithogalum, for "atonement". A yellow tulip, for "hopeless love". A viscaria, for "invitation".

She began putting the flowers into a vase. They were pretty, and it would be a waste to let them die so quickly. At least, that was what she told herself.

On the fifth day, the day of the pink rose for "grace", she didn't close the door on him, and instead began to walk with him to the training grounds, where their teams often held joint practices. She ended up acknowledging Takahiro, because the training required it.

On the eighth day, the day of the peony for "honor", she witnessed the two of them apologizing to Kiba, who accepted it with a smile and a slap on their backs.

Then one day, the sixteenth day, Neji brought a bouquet of lavender roses and snowdrops, for "love at first sight" and "hope".

"You do know that lavender roses are dyed, and therefore fake, right?" she asked, gently stroking a petal. She refused to look up at him.

"I know, but it's the meaning that counts, right?"

_So he's aware of the meanings of each flower._

"Why do you still bring me flowers every day? I forgave you days ago," she asked, still observing the flowers and stroking their petals.

His hand reached up and stilled her fingers. "I think you know why," he said, voice coaxing her to look up. She did, and her breath hitched at what she saw.

On the sixteenth day, for once in his life, Hyuuga Neji's emotions were fully displayed on his face. She saw with fascination as anxiety danced across his face. He was nervous and afraid, but it was what was in his eyes that made Hikari go weak in the knees.

On the sixteenth day, Neji's eyes were earnest and slightly wide and so very much _full_ of hope that Hikari instinctively took a step back, afraid of breaking that hope, before stepping closer when she saw traces of defeat and sorrow begin to appear.

On the sixteenth day, Hyuuga Neji confessed his love to Uzumaki Hikari while holding her hands and his breath, daring to hope.

And on the sixteenth day, the day of lavender roses and snowdrops, Uzumaki Hikari gave her second kiss to Hyuuga Neji.

-O-O-O-O-

A/N: Here you go, **kpopisawesome****_._** I hope you liked it! I tweaked it a little, but tried to keep the main part of your request.

I had a lot of fun writing this, mainly because of how each character would act within the emotion they were supposed to be portraying. Neji is such a dorky tsundere, I love it.

**UPDATE ON ****_REACHING_****: **I have writer's block. I'm so sad! Sorry, guys! It'll take a little longer to get another update.

On the other hand, requests are always open, so send them in, everyone! To **_Strawberry Days_**_,_ of course. _The requests help me find inspiration to write_, so more requests may actually end up in an earlier update! Yay!

To reviewers and followers and favoriters: THANK YOU! I LOVE YOU ALL TO DEATH!

See you next time!


	6. Chapter 6: Smileshipping

**ONESHOT REQUEST**: Hikari and Shisui, Smileshipping

**For Thea: In which the Uchihas live, and Hikari has the worst crush on Shisui. I made her a little older. Also known as: what life may have been like if the Uchihas didn't die.**

-O-O-O-O-

"Strawberry!"

A shout across the market square drew her attention, and she was suddenly swept into strong arms as a puff of chakra indicated the use of the Shunshin Jutsu (**Body Flicker Technique**).

"Happy twentieth birthday!" Uchiha Shisui cheered. Hikari facevaulted.

"Shisui, it was my twentieth birthday about four months ago," she said. "And stop calling me Strawberry."

"Ok, then, Hika-chan," he pouted, letting her down. "And I know your birthday was four months ago, but I missed it and finally got back from my extended mission just now, so I hurried to say happy birthday to you." He grinned widely at her.

Her heart skipped a beat.

"Stupid," she muttered as her ears and neck grew hot. "You should report to the Hokage and get rest, not find me."

"Kakashi already got my handwritten report via messenger hawk, so it's fine; there's no need for a debriefing. Besides, I had to come meet my favorite kunoichi. What are you doing? Can I help?"

"Kakashi-_sama_," she stressed. "He's the Hokage. You have to show respect." She handed him her shopping bag. "Here, hold this. I'm buying ingredients for dinner tonight. You're invited. Almost everyone is, because we're celebrating the third anniversary of the Hokage's inauguration."

Shisui held the shopping bag, but when Hikari looked up at his face, he was staring down at her with a look of horror. "You're cooking?"

She reacted with a similar look of horror. "Oh, Kami, no, of course I'm not cooking. I'd end up poisoning everyone somehow. Naruto is cooking, with Hinata."

They browsed the stalls in a comfortable silence, until Hikari accidentally bumped into someone. "Oh, I'm sorry," she apologized, then looked up to see the scowling face of Kurosawa Takahiro. "Oh. Hello."

"Hello, Uzumaki," he said, stepping into her personal space to sneer down at her. "I see you're not wearing your uniform. Did the Hokage finally come to his senses and demote you to kitchen duty?"

She narrowed her eyes, refusing to fall to his intimidation tactics. Just because she was short and he was tall did _not_ mean that she was less than him.

Although, being much shorter than everyone else was inconvenient.

"I'm currently on medical leave," she responded coolly, taking a step closer to get into his face. "Because, unlike some people, I'm requested for S-ranked missions, which require a higher skill set than you could ever reach. If there were ever to be a situation in which I needed to be in combat, I could do so easily, without my uniform or gear."

Takahiro's face twitched with anger. He leaned down so that he was directly face to face with her. "You should be careful. Some of the S-ranked missions you'll need to take will be 'X-rank'." He stood at his full height again. "But who knows? You might enjoy those missions. Everyone knows that in order to get your rank, you slept with the—"

A calloused hand wrapped around her wrist, and with a tug, Hikari found herself staring at the Uchiha crest on Shisui's back.

"Would you like to finish that sentence?" Shisui asked, ice creeping into his voice. His chakra began to flow more quickly, and Hikari knew that he had activated his Sharingan.

Takahiro scoffed, although he took a wary step back. "As always, Uzumaki, you have your lackeys playing bodyguard for you. How fitting, for someone who couldn't even protect themselves at the Chunin Exams."

Shisui's chakra surged towards his eyes. _Oh, shit,_ she thought. _I need to stop this_. She laid a hand on his arm. "Shisui."

He didn't break eye contact with Takahiro, but his Sharingan faded away after several tense seconds to reveal his familiar coal eyes.

"Kurosawa-san," Hikari said, "You may imply and insult me as much as you like, but whatever you do, _do not insult my friends_." She left, keeping a hold of Shisui's arm to prevent him from running back and punching Takahiro in the face, which she knew he would do if she let him.

They walked in silence, Shisui's muscles tense under her hand. She sighed. "Shisui, it's okay."

"No, it's not." His brow furrowed deeper, and his chakra flickered erratically.

"Shisui. Please."

He stopped in the middle of the path. "He had no right to say the things he did. You've worked so hard to become Jounin, and you've gone through more than he ever has. He even had the audacity to bring up the Exams, when he _knows_ that it's a bad memory for you, and he assumes things about you when he doesn't even know you, not like—"

Shisui broke off in his rant, staring at the ground angrily. Hikari prompted him to finish. "Not like what?"

He lifted his gaze to meet hers. "He doesn't know you. Not like the way I do."

Her eyes widened, and she felt her heart speed up. She looked away at anything, anywhere, just to avoid his eyes, which held _something_ that she wasn't sure she wanted to explore yet. Her eyes landed on the shopping bag, and in doing so, missed the disappointment that flickered across Shisui's face.

"We didn't finish buying the ingredients," she said, reluctant to return to the market.

"The remaining ones are at the compound," he offered. "You can see Fumiko and Akane, too, that way. I can get us there with the Shunshin."

She took his hand, accustomed to this method of travel. "I have a question. How do you know which ingredients I still need?"

"Because," he said, grinning again. "I _know_ you."

-O-O-O-O-

"Kari!"

A brilliantly smiling Fumiko opened the door. She hugged Hikari with slight difficulty, due to her swollen stomach. "Come in! What do you need?"

"Do I need a reason to come see a friend?"

"That's true, in your case, but Shisui came too, and he always comes only when he needs something."

"Hey! I do not! I also come to play with my niece!" Shisui protested.

Fumiko arched a brow.

"… But we need vegetables this time," he admitted, slumping.

Fumiko smiled. "I thought so. Kari, you can go visit with Akane. She's been asking for you lately."

"Alright," Hikari agreed. "Although, I still can't believe you named her after me. Well, my hair, I guess."

"Nonsense," Fumiko said, waving her hand. "You're my closest friend, and you saved my life. Now, go." She pushed her towards the living room and dragged Shisui into the kitchen.

Hikari poked her head into the living room and saw Uchiha Akane, the four year old daughter of Uchiha Fumiko and Uchiha Itachi, playing with the family cat. She crept up to her, and covered her eyes with her hands. "Guess who, Akane-chan?"

Akane shrieked with glee. "Kari!" She launched herself at her.

Hikari laughed as Akane wriggled her way onto her lap.

"Now," she began, eyes sparkling. "How has my precious goddaughter been doing?"

-O-O-O-O-

"Here's the radish. What else do you need?" Fumiko asked, bagging the vegetable.

"Miko, I can do it. You should rest; you're pregnant," Shisui urged, standing at the counter.

"I'm pregnant, not helpless. And you'll just mess up the way I organized the refrigerator," she replied smoothly. "Now, what's the next item?"

"Carrots," he surrendered, sitting down at the table. He watched Hikari through the doorway, and smiled slightly as he saw her tickle Akane before collapsing with her into a heap of laughter.

"You should tell her how you feel," Fumiko suggested gently, placing the carrots into another bag. "She likes you, after all."

"I know," he replied. "But I can't. She's not ready, and she probably refuses to even entertain the possibility of a relationship with me."

"Hmm," she mused. "Well, you always know best when it comes to Hikari." She tied the end of the bag. "Is this all?"

"Huh? Yeah," he said, eyes following Hikari.

Fumiko smiled fondly at her brother. _The poor, lovesick fool_. "Akane," she called. "Hikari has to leave now."

"Awwww," Akane whined. "Already?"

"Sorry, Akane-chan," Hikari said. "I'll visit again sometime soon with Shisui."

"Oh, Shisui-oji (**Uncle Shisui**) was here?" she asked. "I didn't even notice!"

Shisui gasped, clutching his heart. "I'm offended, Akane-chan!"

She stuck her tongue out at him and hugged Hikari. "Bye, Kari!"

"Bye, Akane-chan. Be good to your parents, okay?" Hikari said, hugging her back.

" 'Kay!"

Shisui stood up, towering over everyone, as usual. "Well, let's go. Walk or Shunshin?"

Hikari glanced at the clock on the wall. "Walk. We have time."

They said their goodbyes, lingering in the doorway to gush over Fumiko's swollen belly, before finally leaving the house and exiting the compound.

"So, who else is invited to the party?" Shisui asked, swinging the bag of ingredients. Hikari eyed the bag, slightly apprehensive.

"I already told you. Almost everyone."

"I'm assuming you don't mean all of Konoha," he teased. "At your house? Or the apartment?"

"My house, obviously," she replied, smacking him lightly. "Naruto kicked me out of the apartment anyways. He said he needed space to create more jutsus, but I think he just wants to make out with Hinata without any interruption." She made a face. While she wholly supported Naruto and Hinata's relationship, she didn't want or need to see her brother making out.

"I hope Hiashi never finds out, then," Shisui said, referring to Hinata's father.

"Oh, he has," Hikari smirked. "But Naruto declared his eternal love for Hinata, so he's basically engaged to her at this point."

"Marriage, already? You guys are only twenty."

"Itachi and Fumiko married when they were nineteen, and had Akane when they were twenty-one," Hikari pointed out. "Even if that's just clan politics. Plus, we're shinobi. We have a higher chance of dying, so isn't it better to get married, if you decide you want to marry? Besides, we're not all old men like you."

"I'm only twenty-seven," he said with a slight whine.

"I'm surprised that you haven't married yet, actually," she said, ignoring the slight pang in her chest. "Hasn't your clan been pressuring you?"

"They have, since I was eighteen," he replied. "But I don't want an arranged marriage. It worked for Itachi and Fumiko, because they like and respect each other enough for it to work, but I don't think it would work for me, so I'm waiting for the right person." His eyes cut towards her.

"You're such a sap," she said, grinning. "Have you found that person yet?"

"I have someone in mind," he murmured, not taking his eyes off of her and rejoicing internally when she grimaced from what he knew was jealousy. "What about you, then? Thinking of marriage at your young age?"

"Well," she said slowly, thinking. "I'm not sure. If the right person asked, then maybe?"

She slowed as they arrived at the front gate of her house. "I'll see you tonight, then," she said, raising an eyebrow at his contemplative expression.

"Yeah, see you. Don't burn the kitchen."

She flushed.

"That was one time! I'm not even cooking!"

-O-O-O-O-

Hikari sighed as she closed the door behind her. The party was in full swing, with three generations of shinobi (the Kakashi generation, the Itachi generation, and the Naruto generation, as she called them) causing chaos and mayhem. While she loved them, she needed a break, so she went outside and sat on the steps.

Also, she was a little sad that Shisui hadn't shown up.

She sighed again, resting her head on her knees as she recalled his words.

_"I have someone in mind."_

She knew, rationally, that it wasn't her. How could it be? He was Uchiha Shisui, beloved by the village, the most sought-after bachelor (besides Sasuke, who was going to get together with Sakura any day now), and childhood friend. He was tall, handsome, and charismatic, possessing a smile that never failed to make her heart skip a beat, and she was hopelessly in love with him, ever since they were genin. And he saw her as a younger sister.

But even though she knew it wasn't her, she still wished it was, and because of that wish, somewhere within her, she hoped that it was her.

"I'm in so much trouble," she muttered.

"Really? What did you do?"

Her head shot up. Shisui was standing in front of her, bearing his usual grin.

"Sorry I'm late," he said as he sat down next to her. "I had to get something."

"That's fine," she said. "The party is inside."

"I'd much rather stay out here with you," he admitted. "The night is nice, and I'm not sure if I want to get drunk yet." He rested his chin in his hand and smiled again.

And there went her heart.

"Getting drunk isn't very fun," she agreed. "Remember when we tried to see how much alcohol we could tolerate when I was fifteen?"

"Yeah, you were out after two glasses. What a lightweight. I can't believe I let you drink then," he mourned. "What sort of responsible adult am I?"

"You're not responsible," she deadpanned. "Besides, I was legally allowed to drink when I became Chunin. And you weren't much better! Itachi told me that you passed out after four glasses!"

"Alright, you caught me," Shisui said, raising his hands. He stretched and placed a hand into his pocket. "So, Hikari," he began.

She tilted her head, motioning for him to continue.

"I actually wanted to ask you something-"

A crash sounded from inside the house.

"Sorry, can you hold that thought? I should probably check that out," she said, hurrying into the house.

"Oh, sure."

Shisui frowned unhappily at the horrible timing. _Of all the times that could happen..._

"Lee almost got a hold of some alcohol, but Neji put a stop to it." Hikari came back out and closed the door behind her. "What did you need to ask?"

"Ah, it's nothing," he evaded. "It wasn't that important. Do you want to go inside now?"

Her lips quirked. "And face the unruly masses? Sounds like a plan."

He smiled bitterly as he followed her into the house, mentally cursing Lee. In his pocket, his hand traced the rounded edge of a small, black box.

-O-O-O-O-

Hikari felt the corner of her mouth quirk upwards as she stepped over the sleeping shinobi on the floor of her living room. _Really_, she thought, _they shouldn't drink so much that they can't respond to me walking above them_.

She made her way around the room, checking to make sure that everyone had a blanket and pillow, and stifled a giggle when she saw that Naruto had pulled Hinata to him like a koala clinging to a tree.

"Hika-chan?" a hoarse voice whispered.

She turned to see Shisui rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "Go back to sleep, Shisui. It's almost half past four."

He blinked dazedly at her. "Why aren't you asleep?"

"I'm keeping watch, because everyone else was irresponsible enough to fall asleep drunk. You never know what might happen. Now go back to sleep."

Shisui stood up and stretched, ignoring her command. "I'll stay up with you," he said, picking his way across the room.

"No, you really don't need to."

"But I want to," he said, oddly persistent. "I really, really, really—"

They both froze as someone mumbled in their sleep. When everything was quiet again, they relaxed, and Shisui finally reached her. "Too late. I'm fully awake, and there's nothing you can do about it," he said.

Hikari rolled her eyes with a slight smile. "Alright. Let's go to the porch, because we're bound to talk. Plus, it smells too much like alcohol in here."

They sat on the porch steps, similar to the way they sat earlier in the evening. _Although, it's not really evening anymore,_ Hikari thought. At nearly half past four, Konoha was strangely silent and still. There were no people in the streets, or lights and sounds from houses, and the animals that came out at dawn were still asleep. The air was cool, and it was completely dark, with only the moon and stars providing what little light there was.

"The night really is nice," she said softly. "Especially around this time. It's very…" She drifted off, unsure of what word to use.

"Calming? Tranquil?" Shisui offered.

"Sort of, but more. I was thinking along the lines of soothing and serene."

He laughed at her, nudging her shoulder with his. "Those mean the same things."

"Maybe," she conceded. "But the words I chose seem more comforting, don't they?"

"I guess."

They sat in silence for a while, completely at ease in each others' presence. After some time passed, Shisui nudged Hikari again. She turned her attention to him. "Hm?"

"Remember when I wanted to ask you something earlier, and I couldn't because Lee decided to try and drink some alcohol, and Neji had to stop him, so that interrupted what I was going to say, and you had to get up and check to make sure everything was okay, and I decided not to ask you for some reason, and—"

She cut off his rambling by raising a hand. "Yes, I remember. Shisui, are you still drunk?"

He pouted at her. "No, of course not. What makes you say that?" He scooted closer and rested his head on her shoulder.

"Okay, now I know for sure that you're drunk. You're never this affectionate to me when you're sober."

"I'm not drunk," Shisui insisted. "Besides, I'm always affectionate to you."

"That's true," she agreed. "But not like this. When you're sober, you pick me up and spin me around, and it's very playful. When you're drunk, you're more…" She trailed off again, searching for the right word.

"Intimate?"

"Yeah," she said, feeling her face heat up. "That. Intimate."

Shisui hummed lowly, causing vibrations to resonate across her shoulder. She shuddered slightly.

"Maybe," he began, lifting his head off her shoulder to stare intently at her, "it's because I want it to be that way."

With those words, the conversation veered off course and headed towards a more uncertain, dangerous path.

"What—"

"Alcohol is known for lowering inhibitions, after all," he said in an almost musing manner. "So I can hold back less. Be more truthful. You know, all that crap. I can be more selfish and even though I'm not drunk, I can use alcohol as an excu—"

"Shisui, stop."

He blinked at her. Her face was completely red, and her eyes were glassy. _Oh,_ he thought blankly. _I made her cry_.

"You're drunk right now," she said, refusing to look at him.

His brow furrowed. "I'm not." Really, he wasn't.

"You're drunk," she repeated. "You don't know what you're saying, so I think you should stop talking before you say something you might regret."

She stared down at her hands, afraid to meet his eyes. A beat of tense silence passed, then suddenly—

"Regret?"

Her eyes shot up to see him scowling at her. "There's one thing you should know, Uzumaki Hikari." Her heart stuttered when he said her entire name. "When it comes to you, there's nothing I regret, ever, even if we fight."

Hikari didn't know how to respond, but thankfully, Shisui decided to take mercy on her. He pulled back and grinned widely, making her heart flutter again, and the heavy atmosphere around them vanished. "Did you know that Akane wants to join the Academy already?"

She pounced on the change of subject, eager to leave the previous one behind. "Yeah, she asked me to push her registration through, which I'm not going to do. She should enjoy spending as much time as possible with her family before she's whisked away by training and learning."

He snickered at her. "Not everyone was an obsessed workaholic who wanted to graduate early, like you. She just wants to learn cool jutsu."

"Oh, shut up. There's nothing wrong with dedication to the shinobi lifestyle."

He hummed noncommittally again. "Ah, that's right." When she turned questioning eyes on him, he fished around his pocket and withdrew a small black box. "I got you a late birthday present."

Hikari felt her ears heat up again. "You didn't have to."

Shisui snorted. "Just take it," he said, shoving the box into her hands.

She accepted it. The box was very small, fitting into the palm of her hand perfectly. It was covered on the outside with black velvet, and opened via flipping. "You got me jewelry? Isn't that expensive?"

"Just open it," he chirped, impatiently flapping his hands at her. She did, and what she saw made her heart stop (honestly, she was going to have a heart attack if she hung around him too much).

Between two sheets of white silk lay a silver band encrusted with a single, white crystal that she suspected was a diamond. It caught the moonlight and shone invitingly at her, taunting her to put it on her finger.

"Shisui, do you realize what this looks like?" she asked, voice sharp.

"Yeah," he said casually. "Here, let me put it on for you." He took the ring and her hand— her left hand— and carefully slid the ring _onto her ring finger_.

"This isn't funny," her voice wavered, weak.

"It's not a joke. And no," he said when she opened her mouth to protest, "I'm not drunk. Earlier, way earlier, as in yesterday afternoon earlier, we talked about marriage, remember?"

How could she forget? She always remembered their conversations.

"And we talked about our "right person", and I also said that I had someone in mind. That's you." Shisui tightened his hold on her left hand, and looked straight into her eyes. "You said that if the right person asked, you would accept. I want to be that person, so Uzumaki Hikari, will you marry me?"

Her mouth opened and closed several times as her voice refused to come out. Finally, she said in a shaky whisper, "You're seven years older than me."

"That's not too bad. Besides, we're in our twenties."

"Barely. And we haven't even dated," she pointed out desperately.

"We might as well have been, considering the way we interact."

"Your clan might not accept me."

"Bullshit. Everyone adores you, and Itachi is the Head of the clan. It'll be fine."

Finally, she used her last resort. "What if I don't love you?" she squeaked, closing her eyes. When she received no response, she peeked up at him, and to her dismay, he was grinning down at her with that smile, the smile that always caused her to feel sick yet wonderful at the same time.

"You forget," Shisui said, coming closer, then repeated his words from yesterday afternoon, "that I _know_ you."

And he kissed her.

He kissed her roughly, moving against her mouth with a pace that made her weak and dazed and breathless, because _Kami_, it should be illegal for someone to be able to kiss that well. He pulled back, just enough for her to catch her breath, and pressed his lips against hers again, smoother and slower than before. This time, she felt as if her heart was melting, but in a good way, a way that slowly crept through her veins and warmed her entire body, until she was hesitantly responding to the kiss.

Shisui hummed in approval as she leaned close to him, sliding her arms around his neck. One of his arms wrapped around her waist, while the other snuck around her back for his hand to cradle her head, allowing him to tilt her head for easier access.

Time ceased to exist. It was only her and him, Hikari and Shisui, Uzumaki and Uchiha, water and fire. He kissed her countless times, each time pulling back and stopping just enough for her to barely catch her breath before capturing her lips with his own. Finally, he pulled back and didn't attempt to kiss her again, and instead pulled her into his lap to rest his forehead against the top of her head.

Her hair smelled like apples.

They rested like that for a while, basking in each others' presence. When the light of the sunrise finally hit them, Hikari shifted off Shisui's lap and glanced up at him shyly.

"I guess," she said quietly, much more quietly than he had ever heard her speak, "that August is a good month to get married in."

He stared at her for a moment, then laughed with joy. "Six months away," he said.

She nodded, playing with the collar of his shirt.

Shisui smiled at Hikari, eyes crinkling.

"I can wait six months."

-O-O-O-O-

A/N: Here you go, Thea!

To **Carrie**, the guest reviewer: I can't do that request, due to spoilers! Sorry! A "before the battle" scene will come up later in the official story though, so just wait until that part finally comes up (but it'll be a long wait, since the story is still in its beginning stages).

To those of you who may be confused as to why Takahiro is such a prick: Remember, in _Reaching_, he and Hikari only became good friends because he helped her recover from Shisui's death. Since the entire Uchiha clan is alive, there was no need for that, hence the animosity between the two.

**I'll try to update ****_Reaching_**** later on today!** Also, look forward to an Omake Special sometime in the future.

See you next time!


	7. Chapter 7: Vaporshipping

**ONESHOT REQUEST**: Hikari and Itachi, Vaporshipping

**For Tsukiyomi-Hio: The courtship of Uchiha Itachi and Uzumaki Hikari. In which Hikari never became friends with Fumiko, the Massacre never happened, and the only Uchiha she really knows is Sasuke, but she still gets along with Takahiro.**

-O-O-O-O-

Clans, Itachi decides, are a pain in the neck.

His current predicament with the clan does not involve another coup (like the one that they thankfully decided to not go through with when he was thirteen and Sasuke was eight), but that does not mean that it is any less painful. Because the topic that the clan is now harping on about is marriage.

Ever since Fumiko decided that her true love was a civilian outside of the clan, the clan has been pressuring Itachi to find a suitable replacement. They publicized his status as an eligible bachelor— he scoffs in a very Sasuke-like fashion, imagining how they would do so: _Check out Uchiha Itachi while you're passing by. He's twenty-five, capable, and rich_— and set up meetings with kunoichi from other clans.

The one good thing about this is that he is allowed to let his personality show, where in the past, he was instructed to show as much personality as a doorknob in order to hide weakness.

He spots a flash of red from the corner of his eye and turns to see his brother's team sparring against the Uzumaki girl. Well, not so much of a girl anymore. He eyes her critically, finding no flaws in her movements— except perhaps for the unnecessary finger flick she gives her twin— and her appearance is decent. Now that he thinks about it, she's from a clan. She's strong. She's moderately pretty. And she gets along well with Sasuke.

She'll do.

-O-O-O-O-

She blinks at him, confused. It's rather endearing, he observes. But she does have a good reason to be confused, because he's approached her for the first time.

"Itachi-san?" she asks, uncertain.

"Hikari-san," he returns smoothly. "Would you like to spar with me?"

His offer takes her off guard. She is bewildered, he notices, and is unsure of how to respond. After all, why would he, an elite shinobi who graduated even earlier than she did, want anything to do with her, a new jounin?

"I would like that," she finally responds, "but I don't know if you'll gain much from it."

"I have not had the opportunity to fight someone with your skill set," he says. "I'm sure I will learn many things."

They set the date and he smiles with satisfaction, pleased with himself.

After dinner, Sasuke storms up to him, demanding answers.

"Seriously, Aniki? She's my best friend! You could have chosen any girl in the village and you choose her, of all people?"

"First of all, Otouto, I can't have just any girl in the village. The clan has set certain requirements for my wife, and she happens to fulfill them easily. Secondly, I doubt I would be able to choose from all of the village's girls. Your friend, Naruto, would surely protest if I attempted to court the Hyuuga heiress," he says.

"Why her? Besides the requirements. Did she just happen to be the first girl you saw who passed?" his silly little brother asks, frustrated.

"She's fascinating," he admits. "Besides, since she's your best friend, wouldn't it be nice if she were family?"

-O-O-O-O-

When they meet at a training field, she avoids his eyes. He sighs lightly.

"Sasuke has told you, then?"

Her lips thin into a pressed line. "Itachi-san, what were you expecting to achieve? That you'd ease yourself into my life and I'd find myself falling in love with you?"

He pauses, surprised that she's managed to pinpoint him so well. "Something like that, yes."

She rolls her eyes. "These things take time, you know? You have to get to know someone and be friends first, so if you're going to do this, you're going to do this correctly."

She's managed to surprise him again. "So you're willing to entertain it?"

"Only if you do it properly. Since the first step is to become friends, let's drop the suffixes. I'll call you Itachi, and you can call me Hikari."

He agrees, and they spar. She's good, almost too good, and he thinks that she should have been promoted much earlier. He tells her.

She's pleased.

-O-O-O-O-

They settle into an easygoing relationship. They train, pointing out each others' weaknesses (however few they may be). She teases him, and he teases her back. They discuss politics, ridicule his brother, and spend their time pleasantly. And every day, he asks her if she's fallen in love with him yet, to which she rolls her eyes and smiles while saying no.

One day, while they're eating enough dango to put Anko to shame, she suddenly pipes up with a suggestion. "Let's go to the harvest festival," she says. "Full festival dress. Pick me up at seven."

He raises an eyebrow. "As dates?"

She shrugs a shoulder, nonchalant and smiling. "Sure, why not?"

He allows himself a smirk.

That evening, he heads out to pick her up, decked in a black yukata with Sharingan red accents. When she opens the door, she rolls her eyes at his choice of colors, but he is too busy admiring how her pale orange yukata, which fades to the orange of a sunset, complements her skin. Her hair is pulled up into a bun, kept in place by a hairpiece bejeweled with crystal flowers.

He offers her his arm. She takes it.

The festival is filled with a lighthearted joy that he's come to associate with her. The festival lights shine around her, persuading her face to glow with an almost ethereal light. And this is when Itachi realizes that he's fallen for her.

The realization stirs a strange feeling within him. How was it that she, a girl he had merely been pursuing for the sake of the clan on the basis of having fulfilled the requirements, wormed her way into his life and heart, much like he'd been planning on doing to her? It's a bit ironic, he muses as he watches her laugh while attempting to scoop a goldfish up with a special paper net designed to challenge shinobi.

She glances up at him, beckoning him to try. He catches a goldfish on his first try and gives it to her to keep.

"I'm going to name it Amaterasu," she announces. "After your jutsu."

He's flattered, and he tells her so. She responds just like he anticipates.

"Well, I didn't choose it to flatter you. I chose it because she'll grow to be strong, like your jutsu."

"I caught her for you. Do you love me yet?" The words cause his insides to warm for the first time.

And as always, she rolls her eyes, smiles, and says no.

-O-O-O-O-

Amaterasu dies the next day.

It's a bit unfortunate, but they flush her down the toilet with little fanfare. Hikari isn't very upset, just regretful that her money was wasted on catching a fish that died the next day.

"I can buy you another one," he offers, but she declines, stating that she doesn't know if she has time for a pet.

"Besides," she says, "if I do get a pet, I want something I can cuddle, preferably a dog or a cat. Not a nin-dog or nin-cat though. Just an ordinary, domesticated, fluffy animal."

So of course, the next time they meet, he presents her with a tiny white puppy that has a brown spot over its eye, paws, and tails. It reduces her to coos.

"Thanks," she beams. He decides that he very much likes her smile.

"It wasn't a problem." They spend the rest of the day playing with the newly named Shiromaru.

-O-O-O-O-

He finds himself missing her when she leaves for a mission, an S-Rank. She told him not to worry, but he can't help it if he does.

He loves her.

And it is completely normal to worry about the person he loves, because she's on an S-Rank mission tracking down a missing-nin notorious for immortality, of all things.

He wonders why he hasn't been chosen for the mission, but he realizes that her team, which specializes in these sorts of missions, is a better fit and works better without an added fourth person.

So he spends his time worrying and yearning to see her again. Sasuke calls it moping, but Itachi disagrees.

He's merely worrying. Uchiha don't _mope_.

Her brother visits him while she's gone. Uzumaki Naruto is loud, opinionated, and everything that a shinobi shouldn't be, but he is her brother and he makes it very clear that if Itachi ever ends up hurting or playing her, he will hunt him down, break his fingers (one at a time), pull off his fingernails, rip out his organs, burn his hair, slice his legs into ribbons, and unleash the Kyuubi so that he can die a painful death encased in the poisonous chakra of the Kyuubi.

Itachi reassures him that he is in love with Hikari and is a complete fool for her.

He's waiting for her at the gates when they return. It is chaos, because her teammate, the medic, has been severely injured and no one else was qualified enough to treat him beyond mediocre healing. They rush him to the hospital, and Itachi trails after them because Hikari was in charge of the mission and she's definitely blaming herself.

He finds her in the waiting room, sitting with her face in her hands. He sits himself next to her, carefully drawing her into his arms. She shakes with silent sobs, but he soothes her with murmurs of nonsensical things, the antics Shiromaru got up to when she was gone, how Sasuke woke up one day to find his hair in pigtails courtesy of Naruto, little things that take her mind off of the medic fighting for his life on the operation table.

Three hours later, they receive news that he will survive.

She's relieved, and bursts out into tears once more, openly sobbing into his shoulder. He listens to the medic who brought the news, rubbing her shoulders while he learns that her teammate will have to undergo physical therapy for at least half of a year before he is fit for duty, but she doesn't care and he doesn't care because her teammate is going to live.

She calms down and the medic leaves. Itachi turns to her, schooling his features into the most serious face he can muster.

"Hikari." He succeeds in getting her attention.

"Do you love me yet?"

She stares at him in disbelief, unable to cope with the fact that he is actually joking to try and ease her mind, and begins to laugh, softly at first, then loudly, clear and true.

But.

Her answer is different this time.

"You idiot," she says fondly, reaching up to place a small hand against his cheek. "I fell in love with you ages ago."

-O-O-O-O-

A/N: Well, here it is, Tsukiyomi-Hio!

This one was actually really hard to write, because I'm not done developing Itachi's character and personality in Reaching!_Naruto_. I'm happy with how it turned out, however!

Remember that requests are always open! Just leave a review of what you'd like to see written next, be in a pairing, a nonpairing, an AU, a scenario, etc.

See you next time!


	8. Chapter 8: Vaporshipping

**ONESHOT**: Hikari and Itachi, Vaporshipping

**In which a cycle of reincarnation occurs. Includes ****_Naruto, Bleach, Fairy Tail, Fullmetal Alchemist, Percy Jackson, _****and ****_Pokémon, _****none of which I own.**

-O-O-O-O-

WARNING: THE FOLLOWING ONESHOT IS EXTREMELY LONG. READ AT THE RISK OF YOUR TIME.

-O-O-O-O-

_(Naruto)_

-O-O-O-O-

When she dies, Hikari suddenly thinks of Itachi.

She's not sure why; their deaths couldn't have been more different. One was killed by his brother. The other, taken by time. But she thinks of him, and has an abrupt revelation:

Death is cold.

_He must have been cold_, she thinks, vision darkening. _I hope he's warm now_.

-O-O-O-O-

_(Bleach)_

-O-O-O-O-

She awakens in the body of a child.

It's startling, because she isn't supposed to be alive. Isn't supposed to be tan, Isn't supposed to have black hair and green eyes, Isn't supposed to _be_. She's confused and alarmed by this new life, because if it _is_ a new life, _why does she still have her memories?_

But the kunoichi in her takes over. _Compartmentalize. Adapt. Survive._ So she does. She adapts to this new world, this world of shinigami (immortal but not; spirits, _souls_) and zanpakutos (swords with spirits, of all things) and—

Reiatsu.

Reiatsu is strange. Spirit energy, a gauge of one's spiritual strength, used to power kidos and zanpakuto attacks. This world's equivalent of chakra, but also _not_ at the same time. Because while chakra flowed (_flows, _she corrects herself) through a system, with several gates and tenketsu to adjust the flow, reiatsu just… is. It's just _there_, in her body, waiting to be used.

So she uses it. Well, she tries to use it, but it doesn't want to be used, so she somehow manages to sign up for the Shinigami Academy (while bemoaning the fact that she has to attend yet another academy) to learn how to use it. And, of course, to keep her track record of academies straight, she graduates early, at the top of her class.

Flash forward two hundred years and she's the fifth seat of the Fifth Division, the Kido-centric division of the Gotei 13. Kidos are familiar. Comforting. Their incantations are strangely reminiscent of the passwords Konoha used (_uses_), and they are a bit like jutsus and sealing. The duties of the division are close to her specialization as a kunoichi. It is as close as she can get to home.

So she lives like this, taking missions, training, remembering her life back in Konoha. She does the same exercises she always did as a kunoichi, takes them, and combines them with the style of a shinigami. She resigns herself to her new life, gradually opening herself up to her coworkers and acquaintances, slowly building her way to friendship again (even though she's scared she'll lose them like she lost Naruto and Sasuke and everyone else).

And the funniest thing is that her zanpakuto is based on water, like her chakra nature was.

She doesn't look for anyone else from Konoha, from Before. Doesn't even entertain the chance. There's no way that someone else slipped through like her.

Which is why she collapses on her knees from shock when she meets him.

_Itachi._

-O-O-O-O-

It is not his face. But neither is her own.

He is a healthy peach, unlike the deathly pallor from Before. His eyes are purple, angled, and his hair is blonde. She notes that he's kept the ponytail from Before. His nose has the slightest tilt, his mouth small, and she is upset that even after coming into this second life and gaining a completely different appearance, he is still gorgeous.

But it isn't this that identifies him as Itachi to her. It is his demeanor, the soft steel behind his voice, the way he holds himself. It is how his lips allow the slightest curve as he smiles at her.

"I'm Miko," she introduces herself, holding her hand out after standing up.

"Satoshi," he replies. His grip on her hand tightens, squeezes in standard Konoha Morse code: _I-am-here_. "But I think you know me by another name, Hikari."

And she drops everything to throw her arms around him, because it doesn't matter what his history is; he's from _home_.

He hugs her back, tightly, and pulls away. "I have to patrol."

"Eleventh Division?" she asks, not very surprised (because it's just so _him_, peaceful and pacifist yet strong and ruthless). He affirms with a nod.

"I'm fifth seat in the Fifth Division under Aizen-taicho," she offers. Then, she hesitates. "Itachi…" Her head is spinning from the revelation that _she is not alone_, her emotions are churning, and her things are all over the floor. "Can we meet later?"

He pauses. Brushes a hand over her cheek as if checking that she is real. "Of course. We can… spar."

He completely schools her, of course, even with her water zanpakuto's advantage over his fire zanpakuto. But it's okay, because his movements are familiar (_step-sweep-slash_) and it's training.

So they spend as much time as they can together, bound by Before. They are each others' links to the past, constants in this cycle of reincarnation. It is during this time together that the topic of the Others comes up. "Do you think anyone else followed us here?" she asks, hoping against hope.

He stops. Levels his eyes at her. "No, I don't think so," he says softly. She drops her eyes, hugging herself. Then, she smiles.

"At least we have each other."

-O-O-O-O-

The betrayal of her captain during the fuss about Kuchiki Rukia catches her off guard.

Aizen? A traitor? _Impossible_.

But it happened. It happened, so she trains to the point of exhaustion, Itachi alongside with her. She prepares for when the clash between Aizen and Soul Society will occur, and when it comes in the form of the fake Karakura Town, she and Itachi are ready.

They slice their way through the arrancar, forging a path for the rest and working in tandem. Where she falters, he steadies, and where he misses, she hits. When she is thrown back by an arrancar, Itachi is there, forming a launch pad with his hands, and she rebounds off of his hands back at the arrancar. When he is pushed back, Hikari uses a kido to reinforce his legs. They are effective. Efficient.

They are shinobi once more.

Which is why it doesn't make sense when she finds she can't move out of the way of an incoming sword. Doesn't make sense when Itachi runs full tilt into her, slamming her out of the way and getting speared instead. Doesn't make sense when he grimaces and finishes the arrancar off, only to fall to the ground himself.

She is scrabbling, crying for a Fourth Division medic, attempting to comprehend what is happening because it _can't_ be happening. But it is.

She's going to be alone again.

He catches her hands, which are pressed to the wound in his chest. His eyes meet hers. "See you in our next lives."

And she is alone.

-O-O-O-O-

Her death is quiet, like her first. _Heavy injuries from the battle against Aizen_, the medics say. _She could have healed from them, instead of suffering for these past few months. If only she hadn't given up hope…_

They're wrong. She dies because she hopes. She hopes to find him and banish the solitude.

But she's past caring. She can feel her soul ascending, traveling across universes until it stops at the right one. The one with him.

So Miko, fifth seated officer of the Fifth Division, dies with a smile on her face.

-O-O-O-O-

_(Fairy Tail)_

-O-O-O-O-

She is born Elaina Forester, and she is a mage.

This time, she does not panic. She is calm, rational, and tactical. She creates a plan.

First, she assimilates. Learns what she needs to about this world. Magic is everything. Magic is power. She researches the guilds in Fiore, takes note of which one he is likely to join. The land here is large, and it is unlikely that she'll find him immediately, but that doesn't mean she can't narrow down where she'll search (because this is Itachi, of course he would be a mage).

Second, she trains. She trains for over a decade with her magic, force and pressure magic, while laughing at the fact that the universe didn't give her rune magic, the equivalent of this world's seals.

Finally, she searches. Sets out an actual journey with her magic, a bag that holds the essentials, and her resourcefulness. She takes the odd job requests to pay for things, and her reputation as a force mage grows.

_Of course I get a reputation. Can't run away from that._

It takes too long to find him. Sure, in their past lives, she waited two hundred years. But last life, she didn't know he was there too. She wasn't looking for him in her last life.

Then, one day, she walks into the shopping district of the guild Fairy Tail. And there she finds him, lounging at the bar with a glass of something that looks like a fruit smoothie in his hand with casual grace, drop-dead gorgeous as usual.

"Itachi," she says, all doubts of _what if I came here alone this time_ fleeing from her mind. They are younger than they were last time when they found each other, and they look completely different again, but it doesn't matter because she'd recognize him no matter what.

He turns, looks her in the eye. Stands up, walks until they are close enough to touch. His hand brushes her cheek again, like it did a lifetime ago. His thumb caresses the beauty mark under her eye. "That's new," he murmurs. She smirks.

"I'd think that we're used to new by now." Because they are, after two lives of completely different worlds and appearances.

She joins the guild. Of course she does, because he's a part of it. Her guild mark is on her left shoulder, black, like his, a secret homage to ANBU. They become partners, doing jobs together, movements familiar to the other because they spent their last lives fighting next to each other.

The guild knows them as Elaina and Isaac, the force and ocular magic duo. Possibly a couple, Levy speculates. Most definitely a couple, Lucy disagrees. Mirajane begins a betting pool to see when they officially "get together", but time passes and it never happens, resulting in huge stakes.

The guild knows them as "those two". But they know each other as Hikari and Itachi, Miko and Satoshi. They know each other as the Other One, the One who consoled them that they were not Alone. Because being Alone is a terrifying prospect when they are cycling through lives and worlds, unable to move on like the Others from Before.

"Besides," she says while blasting away an enemy. "I don't think I'd be able to love again, not when I still have my memories of the last person I loved."

He says nothing in return, channeling his will through his eyes to make it into reality. After they finish burning through the corridor, he says, "I'm willing to wait."

Her breath catches. "What?"

His eyes, as red as the Sharingan, bear into hers. His magic deactivates, revealing sharp brown irises. "I can wait for you. As long as you need." It goes unsaid, _As many lifetimes it takes_.

He leaves her confused, afraid, and the slightest bit flattered as he turns the corner to attack the next hallway.

-O-O-O-O-

The funny thing is, Hikari is the one who makes S-Rank, not Itachi.

The guild thinks that Itachi is strong. Of course he is, everyone in Fairy Tail is strong. But he isn't deadly. He's peaceful. Average, for Fairy Tail. He doesn't have any outstanding skills, and his magic is capable enough for both offense and defense. Ocular magic, able to cast illusions through vision and manipulate anything that is seen.

And the guild is left in complete awe when Hikari is captured by a dark guild that wants to extract her magic. Because Itachi, the peace-lover, the normal mage, is _furious_. While the rest of the guild is still preparing and planning out their attack, Itachi strides into the dark guild. There are screams and the ground shakes, and at one point, the entire building goes up in black flames. And Itachi walks back out with Hikari safe in his arms, leaving behind nothing but ashes and a crater where a building once stood.

Gray eyes him warily. "You didn't tell us that you could set things on fire with your eyes."

Itachi merely glances at him as he passes, grip tightening on Hikari. "You never asked."

-O-O-O-O-

"You of all people should know that revenge is unnecessary," she accuses, folding her arms. "You didn't have to kill the entire dark guild."

He uncharacteristically folds his arms as well, narrowing his eyes. "And you of all people should know that they wouldn't have stopped. It was the best decision."

"There were other ways," she argues. "Detainment, for one."

"I went in there with the goal to get you out alive and safe," he says, eyes smoldering red, "and that took precedence over safely detaining the guild members. Anyone who got in the way was terminated."

"They're not shinobi!" Her outburst startles both of them, but she grits her teeth and continues. "They're not shinobi... and neither are we. Not anymore."

It's this statement that breaks him. Because to him, it has always been about being a shinobi. In their first lives, he lived and sacrificed and died for what it meant to be a shinobi. For the village. For Sasuke. And to cast aside the mindset of a shinobi would mean to leave behind his first life.

"You're throwing it away?" he asks, quiet. "So easily?"

"I would never," she swears. "I'm not. But this world, this life, it's so, it's so different from Konoha. Sure, there are mages, but it's so _innocent_. Not ruthless. Life is seen as something more precious and less replaceable. Maybe we forgot, because we get multiple second chances, but for Lucy, for Levy, for Gray, for Natsu, this is the only life they have. They're mages, but they're also so _civilian_. It's not the same."

"But we can still be shinobi," he urges, the slightest note of desperation entering his normally even voice. "We can remember."

She smiles sadly. "We can," she agrees, "but only with each other. To everyone else, we're Elaina and Issac, mages of Fairy Tail. And Fairy Tail believes in life. Maybe..." Her smile grows hopeful and tragic. "Maybe we can too."

Maybe they can learn to love their lives, instead of waiting for death and holding on to each other until they meet their loved ones again. Maybe they can stop being afraid of forming bonds.

Maybe they can _hope_.

Because it is the only thing they can do.

-O-O-O-O-

"Hikari."

"Hm? What is it?"

"Promise me that you'll never commit suicide just to follow me."

"..."

"Hikari?"

"I promise. But you have to promise it too."

"Of course. I promise."

-O-O-O-O-

Time passes, along with their youth. The time for adventures is over for this life, left to the new youngsters of the guild.

The betting pool for Hikari and Itachi is never closed. Even now, when they are feebler with weaker voices and crows' feet around their eyes, Lucy winks and raises the stakes for the next week, Natsu rising to match her bet. Hikari and Itachi smile wryly, but confirm nothing.

Then, too soon, Hikari is laying in her bed, unable to do anything but inhale slowly. Her eyes are as inquisitive as always, but her body is failing, and her magic is too strong to do anything but harm her when she tried using it to reinforce her body. She tries lifting her hand, the effort requiring more energy than expected, and Itachi catches her hand with his own, easing her of her burden. He is seated by her side, smoothing the hair off of her forehead.

They stay like that, waiting. When she begins taking shorter breaths, they know that it's time.

With a sudden burst of strength, she lifts her hand and places it on his cheek. "Don't keep me waiting," she says.

"I won't."

She smiles, crinkling the beauty mark. "Itachi."

"Yes?"

"We can hope."

A sigh. And her hand falls.

-O-O-O-O-

_(Fullmetal Alchemist)_

-O-O-O-O-

Itachi is born to two loving parents who name him Ren Xi. They are the sixth clan in line for the Emperor's throne, and he is suddenly reminded of clan politics from Before. There are more lands beyond Xing, like Amestris. And when Itachi can't find Hikari through his royal resources as the sixth-in-line, he knows that she is in a different country.

Things in this world are strangely similar to Before. For one thing, the weapons are more similar, in Xing, at least. Alkahestry and alchemy are like fuinjutsu (so Hikari should be fine, he muses). And his appearance is much closer to that of his first life.

So when he catches wind that some of his younger cousins are thinking of leaving for Amestris in search of the Philosopher's Stone in several weeks, he packs some bags, bullies his attendant into carrying them, and sets off.

He first comes across the Elric brothers. They're an interesting pair, an unstoppable force coupled with an immovable object. He sticks with them for a while, because they tend to attract trouble, and Hikari is definitely trouble.

The Homunculi and chimera are horrifying, to other people, but Itachi has seen worse, been through worse. Chimeras had nothing on Orochimaru's test subjects. And Homunculi? A poor imitation of jinchurikki.

He's lucky that he decided to stay with the Elrics, because it turns out that Hikari is a state alchemist assigned to guard him.

To be honest, he's surprised when he first sees her. Not because of the blue military uniform, not because of the transmutation circles tattooed on her hand and fingertips, and not because of her wheat blonde hair and decidedly electrifying blue eyes (that jolt him back to the color her eyes were Before). He's surprised because she's six years older than him.

"Rosa Jaegis," she says for appearances. "Colonel Mustang ordered me to babysit Edward."

"He did not!" Edward insists. "You're my bodyguard, which I don't need anyways!"

She gives him an unimpressed look. "Say that when you're out of the hospital with a functioning arm." She turns back to Itachi, arches a brow, and motions for him to play along. "Who are you?"

"Ren Xi." She hums.

"Alphonse, I'm going to get some water. Keep Edward out of trouble." Alphonse salutes her, much to Edward's spluttering. "Ren, will you accompany me?"

He acquiesces and they leave the hospital room. She's the first to break the silence.

"You know, I thought that you were in the military," she says, stretching her arms out. He shoots her a dry look.

"Clearly, I'm Xingese and therefore unable to join the Amestrian military."

She smiles at this. "It was because of Colonel Mustang. His title is the 'Flame Alchemist', which is why I thought it was you. Fire-natured chakra and all."

He scoffs at this. "What's your title?"

To this, she grins with a touch of feralness to it. "Light Alchemist." This actually startles a laugh from him, because _honestly_, the languages are different, but the meaning of her name from Before seems to be chasing her.

"I take the energy from light particles or the bonds between molecules and just manipulate it," she says, demonstrating. An agitated glow comes to her hand, humming with potential. "Thus, Light Alchemist. What about you? Any alchemy?"

"It's called alkahestry in Xing. And no, no alchemy."

They stand in silence, having halted on their journey to the water dispenser. "We should go back," she whispers. He suppresses the flare of disappointment easily as they begin walking back.

"Itachi?" When his eyes flick towards her, she continues. "Just know that the only reason I'm not hugging you is because I'm on the job."

The disappointment fades.

-O-O-O-O-

"Why do you stay with the Colonel?"

A pause. The setting down of a book. "Because he reminds me of Tsunade-sama. The way she inspired others."

A pause, this time from him. Then—

"I hate this."

She hardly looks surprised at his declaration (admission).

"I hate how we're forced to live multiple lives. Why us? Why were we chosen for this?"

Her hand closes over his. "I don't know," she says. "Maybe it was an accident and we slipped from the path to the Pure World. Maybe it was deliberate. Maybe there was a reason."

"Like what?"

"To give us a chance at something we never had before."

He is silent, and so is she, but they need no words as their hands tighten on each others'.

-O-O-O-O-

Staying with the Elrics turns out to be bad for one's health.

"Spare me from little shorties who insist on throwing themselves into life-and-death situations," she hisses. Itachi wryly notes that Before, she was the shorty throwing herself into life-and-death situations. She turns to him with a glare, years of familiarity allowing her to know what he is thinking.

Then her eyes widen and she pushes past him desperately to reach someone behind him. He brings his arms up to catch her, but she is already across the room, body-checking Roy Mustang out of the way as the homunculus Wrath throws his swords.

It's too fast. She's pinned, a gate appears, black hands swarm out and drag her in, and she is gone.

Itachi knows this isn't like Konoha. Isn't like Magnolia, when she was kidnapped. This is a gate to another realm, some other power. Truth. He is not an alchemist. He cannot get her back.

But the counterattack begins as the Alkhestric Reverse is activated, and the final battle against Father begins, and _she is there_.

Her beautiful eyes are clouded, unseeing, and she is frozen, afraid to move in the wrong direction, but she is _alive_ and solid and _there_. He reaches her, presses his lips to hers, tells her that he loves her and that she's not allowed to leave him again like that, where he can't follow. She laughs, staring blindly ahead, fingers skittering over his face.

They join the fray.

Edward yells at them that they need to force Father to use up his Philosopher's Stone. With Itachi directing her, Hikari launches lasers, beams, attacks so powerful that they light up the sky of the solar eclipse as if it is midday. Her energy hums through the air, splitting it, cutting a path straight to Father. _It's working_, he thinks.

Then a backlash of energy from Father rips her from his arms, throwing them back into a wall. Itachi is lucky. He hits the wall with his shoulder, which breaks upon impact.

Hikari is not so lucky. Her head hits the wall, and even from the distance, he can hear her neck break.

Before she hits the ground, he knows that she is dead.

But time doesn't stop for her or for him, and the battle continues. No one can stand. No one can move. Humanity has failed, and Father looms over them, powerful and unstoppable. _It's okay,_ Itachi thinks selfishly. _It's not the end for me_.

Then Edward stands up.

_He has two arms,_ Itachi notices blankly, because Edward is standing, Edward is running, Edward is shining in the latent light leftover from Hikari's attacks. Edward is _hope_.

And hope always wins.

After the battle, Itachi sits on the ground, legs crossed. Hikari's head is in his lap, and he strokes her hair, saying goodbye. The sound of footsteps has him looking up to see Roy Mustang hovering awkwardly. After some obvious indecision, he lowers himself to crouch by Itachi.

"She saved me," Mustang rasps. "From the Gate. From Truth."

Itachi nods. He knows. He saw it.

"She was one of my best officers," he continues. "She always talked about you."

Their eyes meet, and a shared understanding passes between them. Smiling slightly, Mustang limps away, joined by his lieutenant.

Itachi's eyes slide over to Edward, who is staring at him and Hikari, eyes swimming with grief. "Aren't you sad?" he asks him.

Itachi smiles. "We'll see each other again."

Edward is confused but accepts his answer, plopping down next to him to say goodbye as well.

It will be a lonely few years. He could stay in Amestris, because Ling has claimed the Philosopher's Stone and will become the next Emperor. He could stay with the new friends he's made, maybe even get an Amestrian citizenship, learn alchemy, and join the military. He will be without her.

But it is okay.

-O-O-O-O-

_(Pokémon)_

-O-O-O-O-

They're the same age this time. Born in the same town. Neighbors, even.

"Are the higher powers giving us a break?" she asks. He snorts. He wishes.

"I doubt it." But it seems like one. This world with Pokémon is calm. Relaxed. Happy. It is hardly dangerous, compared to Before.

They get their starters. She goes with the water starter, the Mudkip. He knows what she's doing, so he gets the fire starter, the Torchic. They grin at each other.

_Chakra natures_.

They journey together. And okay, maybe this world isn't as safe as he thought it was, because there are bandits and scumbags and groups of people who call themselves Team Magma and Team Aqua and want to take over the world, but it's still not much compared to Before, Magnolia, and Amestris. They don't need to train themselves to the point of hyperawareness and autoreflexivity. Their Pokémon are enough to protect them.

Itachi is the first to get a badge. Hikari is upset, because it should have been her, her Pokémon is stronger than his, but he just smiles smugly and pins the badge to his jacket. She grits her teeth, sprays her Pokémon with superpotions until they're all at full HP, and returns within ten minutes with the same badge.

From then on, it becomes a competition. First she's ahead of him in badges, then him, then her. And when he discovers Pokémon contests, they burn through the ranks faster than anyone else, earning them the nicknames of Super Rookies.

It is when they are crossing over a mountain (sadly bereft of any caves to pass through) that it happens. She slips, loses her footing, and tumbles off the side of the cliff.

He reaches for her, hands brushing her fingers, but she's beyond his reach, and she falls.

He curses, something he's never done Before, and pulls out his Pelipper's pokéball, but he knows he won't be able to catch her in time.

Itachi spends days combing the mountainside. He's upset with himself, because if it had been Before, he would have been able to grab her in time. But this world has allowed him to relax, believing that no harm would come to either of them.

Still, he searches, hoping that she somehow survived the fall. But he knows. He knows that she had no flying Pokémon. She had no Pokémon that could use Vine Whip, or String Shot. There was nothing that could have stopped her fall but the ground.

And he is furious, because this world was supposed to be safe. They were supposed to be together until the end. And when he finds her body, broken, he finally falls apart. Through his tears, he eyes the nearest tree branch. It's high enough that his feet won't touch the ground, and sturdy enough to hold his weight. He takes some escape rope out of his backpack and is fashioning a noose when their promise flashes across his mind.

_"__I promise. But you have to promise it too."_

_"__Of course. I promise._"

He wipes his tears and calls on his Combusken to burn the rope. Then, he sets to work with a garden trowel.

Hours later, he is patting down the dirt with her underneath. Taking a knife, he carves her name, her name from Before, into a stone and places it firmly at the base of a makeshift cross. He's taken her Pokémon and supplies, leaving only her clothes.

Her Pokémon, coupled with his, form a full party.

_Wait for me_, he thinks.

"I'll find you again."

-O-O-O-O-

_(Percy Jackson and the Olympians)_

_(The Heroes of Olympus)_

-O-O-O-O-

This world has gods.

Hikari wonders if that means this is the final world. Because the higher powers have been toying with her and Itachi. And the Fates sound like they could be those higher powers.

But then again, she'd thought the same when she'd met Truth in Amestris.

She's a daughter of Janus, the God of Beginnings, Endings, Transition, Doorways and Keys. It's ironic, because of her lifetimes and slipping between worlds, but fitting. Very fitting.

She's inducted into the Twelfth Legion at Camp Jupiter. The Roman lifestyle is strict, stricter than the Amestrian military, but she survives, because that is what she does. And after searching for Itachi, who is nowhere to be found, she concludes that he must be Greek because he's definitely not a mortal.

It is the first time since Before that they are on opposing sides. She doesn't like it, but the Roman way doesn't allow her to question her loyalty. That's okay, because she knows where her loyalties lie.

So she defects.

Because screw monsters and legions and praetors and gods, nothing is going to keep her from him.

Traveling to the East Coast is easy for her. She's the daughter of the God of _Doorways_. All she has to do is open a door, think of her destination, and she's there. Most of the time.

The Fates must be smiling on her, she thinks, because she arrives in the middle of a training field, swords and spears and arrows pointing at her as soon as she falls on her butt.

"Who are you?" a blonde girl demands. "How did you suddenly appear here?"

"Hi- Hannah," Hikari replies. "I'm a demigod. Daughter of Janus?" Her voice trails off into a question as she catches sight of the boy standing next to the girl who asked the question. He's blonde too, so they must be half-siblings, but that doesn't matter because she is absolutely certain it's Itachi.

"Hello," he says, stepping forward and offering her a hand. "Welcome to Camp Half Blood."

"Ryan—" the girl says, but he cuts her off.

"Calm down, Annabeth. I know her."

Then he pulls her into a kiss, a proper kiss, and her head is swimming and the campers are hooting and Annabeth is looking extremely unimpressed, but Hikari pulls back to examine him.

"You're older."

"Yes," Itachi agrees. "Everything is right again."

She smacks him.

-O-O-O-O-

There's a war. Of course there's a war. Again. With Gaia, instead of the titans.

"Why is it that whenever we're reborn, it's into a crisis, usually of saving the world, worthy of publication via book or television?" she questions.

"Because we're heroes," he says. "It's our destiny."

"Destiny must hate us."

"Probably."

They are facing down an army of monsters. As wars go, it's not so bad, even if her body isn't the same as Before. She slices through them, coming face to face with her old Roman comrades, but they fight by her, not against her, because somehow, Reyna has brought Athena's statue and mended the Roman and Greek feud.

At the end of the day, good wins over evil.

And Itachi dies from his wounds, clutching Hikari's hand. She's not far off either, so she says nothing and closes her eyes.

_See you soon._

-O-O-O-O-

_(Earth)_

_(The Final Stop)_

-O-O-O-O-

The cycle continues on, but it's okay because their souls are intertwined. They will always be able to find each other again.

Then, one day:

"Itachi," she calls, staring at her laptop screen. She begins twirling the ring on her left hand unconsciously. "Come look at this."

He appears behind her, nose buried in a book. "Hikari, this better be good, because I have to finish this book for my midterm—"

"Look." She shoves her laptop at him. He glances at it and returns to his book.

"So? It's a manga."

"No, Itachi, _look_."

He looks again and has a double take. Because on her screen is the cover of the first volume of _Naruto_. "Is that—"

"Yeah. I found _everything_. From our lives. From Before. There's _Bleach_, when we were in Soul Society, and _Fairy Tail_ and _Fullmetal Alchemist_ and _Pokémon _and _Percy Jackson_ and _everything_. Don't you get what this means?"

He stares at her, understanding dawning in his eyes. "It's—"

"Yeah," she agrees, laughing joyfully. "The final stop. The last world in the cycle. Itachi, _it's almost over_."

He grabs her, hoists her up and spins her around. "Marry me," he demands, smiling with joy.

"Silly, we're engaged."

"No. Now. Marry me."

She can't say no. How could she, when she's full of such joy and happiness and relief?

This life passes quickly, a whirlwind of family and children and faces. Then, soon, after falling asleep for the final time, she wakes up to see Itachi's face hovering over hers.

Itachi's face. From _Before_.

She looks down at her hands, seeing a sight that she hasn't seen since forever. Her hands are scarred from where kunai nicked them, calloused from use. And on her right hand is a burn that she'd received on a mission against an angry Katon user.

"Hikari!"

All around her are people. Loved ones from each lifetime. There is Lucy, holding back tears, and Natsu and Fairy Tail, Rukia smiling with Ichigo and the gang, Edward, dear, temperamental Edward, with Winry and Alphonse and Mustang and Riza, and standing a little away from them is _Naruto_.

He grins at her. "Welcome home, Kari." Beside him, Sasuke snorts, earning him an elbowing from Sakura. Kakashi sighs, weary as ever, and there is her mother and father and the rest of her friends and her old team and _oh,_ her first crush is also grinning at her and Itachi, and everything is okay.

"We watched you," Lucy is explaining. "Your souls. So we'd be able to know who you are when you finally came here."

"Man, you had it hard," Ichigo says. "Congrats on making it."

She's speechless, unable to register the fact that yes, she is in the afterlife, and that yes, it was over. Itachi pulls her over to Naruto, who hugs her fiercely, joined by Ino and Sakura and her team and even Sasuke.

And finally.

Finally, their journey is over.

-O-O-O-O-

A/N: Oh my god, this is finally over.

I slaved over this for so long. It was going to be longer, actually, with _Harry Potter_ and _Lord of the Rings_ and _Yu-Gi-Oh_ and even _Kuroko no Basuke_ (lol), but I cut it because it was just too long. I mean, the wordcount isn't that long, but there were too many fandoms to include.

(One can never have too many fandoms.)

_Reaching_ should be updated sometime in the future. And _Strawberry Days_ is always open to requests!

See you next time!


	9. Chapter 9: Distractionshipping

**ONESHOT REQUEST**: Hikari and Eisuke, Distractionshipping

**For Setanika, COLLEGE AU: In which Eisuke is a premed student just trying to study for his finals but Hikari takes an interest in him and won't leave him alone.**

(I was working on a Shikamaru/Hikari Zombie AU, but this wouldn't leave my mind, so.)

-O-O-O-O-

Eisuke fisted his fingers in his hair as he scanned the page of one of the textbooks he'd pulled from the library shelves, desperately cramming as much information into his brain as he could. _This anatomy final will kill me_, he thought, brows furrowing at the explanation the textbook gave for how the deltoid connected with the pectoralis major. _I will die and flunk out of college and become homeless and die unhappy if I don't pass the final._ Underneath the table, he shook his leg, ridding himself of the pins and needles.

He flipped the page and began the process again.

It was that time of year, the time in which college students flocked to the library, lived off of coffee, and rarely showered. It was the time in which students cried, laughed, or broke their belongings from sadness, hysteria, and anger.

It was finals week.

Oshiro Eisuke had thought that he could handle it, after having attended Konoha University for three years. Now in his fourth and final year as a premed major, he discovered that no, he couldn't really handle it when the classes that he'd taken this year were all major classes, not electives.

But it was his own fault. So he was going to slog through it, no matter what it took.

He doggedly continued to study, taking five minute breaks to rest his eyes every hour or so. Slowly, the library emptied out until only a handful of the most determined, desperate students remained. When the clock hit two (as in, two in the morning), Eisuke reached into his backpack without taking his eyes off of the page and withdrew a blanket and an energy drink. He had come armed. Ready for the battle.

He was so going to lose.

But time passed and he studied, occasionally glaring at nothing over the fact that his twin, Daisuke, didn't have to suffer like this because _he_ hadn't declared a premed major, oh no, _he'd_ been smart and declared a theater major instead. Then again, Daisuke would probably "accidentally" kill off patients that he found annoying.

As Eisuke flipped yet another page, bemoaning the way his life had turned out and allowing himself to feel selfish for once instead of mothering others, he heard soft footsteps approach his table. He pushed his stack of textbooks to the edge and said, "Take whichever one you need."

The footsteps paused, then continued. "That's not why I'm here," a decidedly feminine voice said. He glanced up, then had a double take, because _wow_, this girl in front of him was really pretty.

Blue eyes that were too bright for three in the morning, smooth skin, and crimson hair that was bound in a single braid on the side of her head. Then, she said, "I studied too much and lost my grip on reality and I think I saw a ghost. Did you see it too?" He decided that while this girl was really pretty, she was also really annoying, considering the circumstances.

"Ghosts aren't real," he said in a clipped voice, turning back to his textbook in clear dismissal. He didn't need to deal with this right now. Right now, he needed to memorize his anatomy textbook.

"Eh, okay." With that, the girl flopped into the chair in front of him. Eisuke looked up from his book again, irritated.

"You're still here? Don't you need to study or something?"

"I told you already," she piped in a clear voice, "I studied too much. So I'm taking a much-needed break."

"Does it have to be at my table? I'm studying, you know. You're bothering me."

She smiled at him, and he felt his iron will waver slightly. "I'll be quiet, I promise!"

He didn't say anything (and he _definitely_ did _not_ blush, no sir he did not) and returned to his textbook because he'd already spent too much time talking with this girl, and not because she had a really nice smile.

(Of course, all interactions occurred at a library-level volume.)

Several minutes passed, until he couldn't take it anymore. He slammed his textbook closed (at a library-level volume), noted the page number, and stared at her straight in the eye. "Stop staring at me."

She smiled again (_thump thump_ went his heart). "Oops, you caught me."

"What do you want?" he demanded. "Why are you here? You can go bother that guy over there." He pointed to where a dark haired kid sat, glaring holes into his textbook.

The girl snickered. "Sasuke would never forgive me if I interrupted him," she said. "Plus, I'm not interested in him."

Her blatant admission took him by surprise, and he found himself blushing, the blood in his body rushing to paint his cheeks bright red. "Oh. Well. Um. I still need to study."

She glanced over his textbook. "Anatomy? I took that class last year. Do you need help?"

"No. Really. It's fine. Please leave."

She continued on as if he hadn't just implored her to leave him alone. "I made up a little song to help with all the muscle stuff. Here, let me sing it for you." Then, she rattled of a little ditty about muscles and their names and their interactions and movements (at a library-level volume).

"That was nice. Can you go now? I really need to study this," Eisuke pleaded. He could feel the points slipping through his fingers with each minute that he wasted.

"Alright, alright," the girl conceded. "I'll just leave you my number." She took his pen and scribbled something down on a corner of his notebook's page and left. He glanced at it.

_Namikaze Hikari_

_XXX-XXX-XXXX_

-O-O-O-O-

The next day, Eisuke entered the library with a slightly begrudging mood. He sat at his usual table and was entirely unsurprised when the girl, Hikari, slid into the seat across from him.

"Okay," he said, starting the conversation and surprising her. "Your song worked. I aced it."

She beamed at him. "Really? You're welcome!"

"Yeah. Thanks." Then, he cleared his throat. "I'm Oshiro Eisuke. I'm a senior. Premed."

Hikari grinned. "Namikaze Hikari, although you should know by now. I'm a freshman in animation." Then, she lowered her eyelashes, peeking up at him through them. "Are you done with your finals? Because if you are, do you want to go out on a date with me later today?"

Again thrown off by her bluntness, Eisuke flushed. "U-um, er, sure…?"

"Great!" she chirped. "Call me or text me. I have to go take my cinematography final, which should take about twenty minutes, give or take. Meet me at the entrance to Lotus Hall!" And she strode out of the library.

He sat there, feeling dazed and as if he had spent too much time in the sun. Slow, warm, sluggish.

He groaned and covered his face with his hands.

_Damn it, I'm in love._

-O-O-O-O-

Eisuke found himself standing at the entrance to Lotus Hall approximately twenty minutes later, wondering what he was doing with his life if he was fancy to every single one of Hikari's whims. Hikari bounded out a moment later, surrounded by classmates. When she caught sight of him, her eyes lit up (a fact that didn't make him happy, of course it didn't make him feel happy, what are you talking about) and she bid farewell to her friends.

"Ready to go?" she sang, linking arms with him. She pulled him towards one of the university's entrances, clearly intent on leaving campus. "There's this really good ramen place that my twin brother introduced me to."

He blinked. "You have a twin? I have a twin too."

"Hey, we're twinning!" she exclaimed, laughing at her own joke. He smiled slightly.

"But yeah, because my brother and I go there so much, we get discounts from the owner," she continued.

"Ramen? But every college student has ramen as a staple. Why go there for a date?" he couldn't help but ask. She halted, bringing him to a stop as well.

"Eisuke," she said, staring into his eyes with the upmost seriousness, "I don't think you understand. The ramen at this place is heavenly. Come on." She tugged at their joined arms, prompting him to walk again. "You won't get it until you try."

And holy mother of Kami, she was right, the ramen was heavenly. It tasted even better because of the discount that they received, which resulted in him losing only two dollars.

"You were right," he said. "The ramen was amazing." They were in the process of walking back to the university, because while finals were over for them, there was still packing to do for the vacation.

"Right?" she replied. They walked on in silence, until he noticed her shivering slightly.

"Are you cold?" he asked. She looked up, surprised.

"What? No," she said, laughing it off. But he could feel her slight tremors because of their linked arms.

This time, he was the one who stopped them where they stood. Taking the scarf from his neck, he wound it around hers. "Don't lie," he chided firmly, pulling the scarf tightly. "It wouldn't be good if you caught a cold." She accepted the scarf, watching his hands as they secured it so that it was warm.

Then, he had a thought. "Hikari?" She glanced up at him. "Why are you interested in me?"

He was curious. Someone like her, someone vivacious and bubbly and inherently extroverted, would surely match better with someone like his brother. So why him?

Then, Eisuke saw something that he never thought he'd ever see.

He saw Hikari blush.

"Do you remember about three weeks ago, when you helped that boy pick up his textbooks in the hallway?" He affirmed that yes, he did remember, although he didn't know what that had to do with his question. It was just something that he did.

"Well," she continued. "I noticed you then. Because everyone else was laughing at the poor kid, who was obviously so embarrassed, and you were the only one who helped him. You did it so naturally too. And I knew you were kind."

Eisuke felt the beginnings of a blush on his face.

Hikari cleared her throat. "So I kept watching you—sorry, that sounds creepy, I know—and I kept noticing things about you. You work hard. You like helping others. You're gentle. And when you concentrate, you get the cutest little wrinkle between your eyebrows."

He stared at her. She averted her eyes, mumbling something into the scarf around her neck—_his _scarf—that sounded suspiciously like "don't look at me like that".

Then, he knew. "Hikari," he said, grabbing her by her shoulders and gaining her attention. "I think I like you."

She stared, then beamed. "I like you too!"

Eisuke returned her smile easily.

"Hey," he said, "we're twinning."

-O-O-O-O-

A/N: Hehehe.

But wait, you might say. Isn't Eisuke supposed to be all mother hen and worried and easily flustered?

Yes, but that was mainly because his brother was evil as a shinobi. In this AU, Daisuke is merely evil as a college student. Thus, less of an extreme personality. Eisuke still behaves like a mother, making sure that Hikari is warm and such, but is the kind of person that suffers from everyone jostling him around and makes you go "I feel for you man". And he's still easily flustered.

And Hikari lied about having taken anatomy the year before, because she wouldn't have been in college the year before. But Eisuke didn't catch that, and Hikari luckily knew the song from an upperclassman (cough Itachi cough can you just imagine him singing a nerdy song about science stuff).

So…

IN OTHER NEWS: I started a **_Kuroko no Basuke_** story, if you guys want to check that out. And my **_Haikyuu!_** story has been updated with many chapters.

See you next time!


	10. Chapter 10: Vaporshipping

REQUESTED ONESHOT: Itachi and Hikari, Vaporshipping

For anon reviewer **Kaneki Ken**: College AU in which Hikari is attending a university that Itachi is a graduate student at.

-O-O-O-O-

(Hikari's POV)

"Crap, crap, crap," Hikari whispered to herself as she dashed across campus. "I have to make it or else I'm doomed!"

Skidding around the corner, she nearly ran into a couple who were standing rather close together. "What the fu—"

"Sorry!" she yelled back over her shoulder.

Hikari ran on, pace quickening as she spotted the doors of her destination down the hall. "Please, please, please let me make it!"

The automatic doors of the campus library slid open, and she skidded to a stop, throwing her arms up in a V for victory. "Safe!"

The librarian glared at her. "Miss Uzumaki, do not shout in my library! And what are you doing here right before closing time?"

"Sorry, Ami. I have to check out a book for my intro to philosophy class tomorrow," Hikari said, speedwalking to the philosophy section. Ami bristled at the informal address, grumbling about overtime, but Hikari ignored her, skimming the bookshelves for the book she needed. "Descartes," she muttered, walking down the aisle while searching. When she found it, she sighed in exasperation.

"Of course," she exclaimed, flinging her arms up in the air. "Of course it's on a shelf I can't reach!"

She eyed the shelf with annoyance. The showdown had begun.

"Alright, you," Hikari declared, pointing to the book. "You may be at a shelf that's over seven feet from the ground, and I may be exactly five feet, but I will get you even if it kills me." She looked around for a stool, but found none. "Stupid bookshelf being too high up without even a stupid stool to help me reach it because of my stupid height."

She stared at the shelf with contemplation. Hikari tried stepping on the second shelf from the bottom to climb up, but the entire bookcase wobbled, so she tsked and got down.

"Ami, do you have a ladder?" she called.

"Why would I have a ladder? Hurry up and check out your book so I can leave. And don't call me so familiarly!"

Groaning, Hikari pouted at the bookshelf. Suddenly, a hand reached out above her and grabbed the book.

_Her_ book.

"_Meditations on First Philosophy_ by René Descartes," a smooth voice said. "Intro to Philosophy, then?"

She pivoted on her foot and blinked when she came face to face with a t-shirt. _Great,_ she thought, _a tall person. I don't even come up to this guy's shoulders._

"Yes, and I'd appreciate it if you gave it to me," she said through gritted teeth, raising her eyes to get a look at his face.

_And Kami,_ she marveled. _What a gorgeous face that is. But more importantly: what hair products does he use?_

She didn't realize that she'd said her thoughts out loud until he replied. "It's a secret," he said, running a hand through a sleek, black ponytail. "And thank you. You have a very nice face yourself." He smiled slightly at her, beginning to walk away.

Her face heated up in an indignant blush, but it wasn't until the stranger checked out the book and left that she realized he'd checked out _her_ book. The one she needed for class tomorrow.

Swearing, she tore out of the library, much to Ami's ire, and raced after the retreating (and very well defined) back of the stranger. "Hey!"

He spun smoothly, raising an amused eyebrow at her. "Yes?"

"That book," Hikari said, pointing at the book in his hands, "I was clearly going to check it out. What you did was a total dick move. Give it to me." She attempted to snatch it, but he easily avoided her.

"That's not very polite. For all you know, I could need it too. First come, first serve, right?"

She snorted. "Yeah, because you're definitely taking an intro to philosophy class. You're not even a freshman." She paused at her own words, unsure. "At least, you don't look like a freshman."

"My brother's the freshman. I'm a second year graduate student," he told her. "I'm taking this for some light reading."

Her jaw dropped. Light reading? He considered _Descartes _to be light reading?

"But," he continued, "if you really need it, come find me." He handed her a slip of paper, which she took, still dumbfounded that he'd described Descartes as light reading. "You only have until tomorrow, I'm assuming. Make up your mind quickly. Oh, and also, there are no other copies available of this edition."

As he walked away, Hikari glanced at the slip he handed her, and saw the words "Uchiha Itachi" followed by several digits.

"That jerk! What kind of person carries their contact info on paper to hand out anyways?"

-O-O-O-O-

"Naruto," Hikari said, bursting into his dorm room, "I'm a goner. Professor Kakashi is going to kill me tomorrow, I just ran across half of campus to check out a book, and someone takes the book right before I'm about to so I end up with no book anyways."

"Whoa, whoa, Kari, slow down," Naruto said, raising his hands as if calming a harried animal. "Tell me what happened."

She described the entire encounter in great detail, bemoaning the dilemma of somehow procuring a copy of the book while pacing back and forth.

"He even had the audacity to basically tell me to call him! What a jerk!" She looked expectantly at Naruto, who hastened to reply.

"Wow, you're right, he really is a jerk. But Hikari," he said, a sly grin slowly appearing, "is he a good-looking jerk?"

She slapped his head. "That doesn't matter," she raged, blushing furiously.

Naruto cackled. "So he _is_ good-looking!"

"It really doesn't matter," a new voice cut in. "She has no tact or respect regarding relationships."

In the bunk above Naruto's, a black-haired boy rose up on an elbow from his previous position of laying down.

"Who are you?" Hikari asked bluntly.

"The person you almost ran into earlier," he returned coldly.

Oh. "I said sorry," she shot back.

"I was trying to confess to the girl I like. Sue me for being upset that the mood was ruined."

"Oh."

Naruto looked back and forth between the two. When the silence stretched long enough, he stood up, clapping his hands. "Aaaalright," he said, stretching out the word, "you guys are obviously not happy with each other, so I'll make peace."

Both Hikari and the other male snorted at the same time. Naruto twitched, but persevered.

"Hikari, this is Sasuke, my roommate. Sasuke, this is Hikari, my twin sister. Please get along."

"Hn."

"As long as it's not the other jerk I met today, I can probably get along with anyone," she declared. "He's a total sadist. He finds joy in others' distress."

"Sounds like someone I know," Sasuke muttered, laying back down, "like my brother—"

"Uchiha Itachi is the biggest asshole I've ever met in my eighteen years of life," she seethed. "And it's not even fair how pretty his hair is."

Sasuke jolted upright, smacking his head on the ceiling. "You met my brother?"

She gave him a strange look. "You're related to that prick?"

"Unfortunately."

"Oh. That makes sense."

"The hell do you mean by tha—"

"Wait," Naruto interrupted. "You," he pointed at Hikari, "met his," he pointed at Sasuke, "brother, who gave you," he pointed at her again, "his number, and you also think he's hot."

"_That doesn't matter_," she hissed venomously.

"Well, I want to know if you're going to bang—"

Sasuke groaned. "I don't need to know this."

"Yeah, but she's not your sister. _I_ need to know."

"The other party in question is my brother, in case you forgot," Sasuke replied drily. "So I really don't need or want to know."

"Hikari!" Naruto cried out. "Just tell me if you want to make little redheaded children with Itachi!"

She stared at him for several moments, unable to speak or form some kind of expression. Finally, she left the dorm, slamming the door behind her to muffle Naruto's cries.

On a second thought, she poked her head back into the dorm.

"Sasuke, I need to ask you something."

-O-O-O-O-

(Itachi's POV)

"You're in an unusually good mood," Kisame commented as Itachi entered their dorm with a miniscule spring in his step. In terms of his body language, it was practically skipping.

"I went to the library," he replied, offering no other explanation. Itachi sat down at his desk, placing the book— _her_ book— in the drawer in his nightstand. Kisame raised an eyebrow, but Itachi ignored him in favor of languidly stretching like a cat. As he stretched, he thought back on his encounter with the redhead.

He'd been doing some last minute research on the library's computers because his laptop had inexplicably died when the doors had opened— _With a bang, as Deidara would say_, he dryly thought— and a very small redhead had dashed in, throwing her arms up with triumph. He'd quirked a smile at her flippant disregard for the librarian, and had returned to his research.

All had grown quiet for several minutes, and he'd finished with what he was researching. Itachi had logged off and had been in the midst of leaving when he'd come across the redhead in the philosophy section, which was between the exit and the computer area. She was pointing at a particular book on a shelf high above her and declaring war on the bookshelf. He had watched with amusement as she attempted to climb the shelf, only to be foiled when the entire bookshelf threatened to fall over.

He'd found her adorable, a bit like an angry kitten, and he was intrigued by her reactions. She was just so _genuine._ So unlike anything his _great_ family had shown him. Thus, he'd stepped forward and claimed her book, resulting in him being complimented on his appearance (unintentionally, he was sure, if her flushed cheeks and slight shock indicated anything), then chased down and insulted. And he'd also given her his number.

Kisame eyed him warily with a knowing grimace. "You found another victim to mess around with, didn't you?"

Itachi smirked with satisfaction. "No," he refuted. "I found a toy." A knock sounded on their door, interrupting whatever Kisame was going to say next (most likely to reprimand him to leave his victim alone). He got up and opened the door to see the redhead scowling at him.

"You," she hissed.

"Me," he returned, pleasantly surprised. "You found my dorm room somehow. Were you that desperate to see me again?"

She, of course, flushed in a manner that Itachi found both startlingly familiar and endearing.

Perhaps he was a little too obsessed.

"No. Your brother told me where your dorm was. Give me the book," she spat, hand extended as if asking for candy. Instead of giving her the book, he placed his hand in hers and dragged her into the room, drawing a squeak from her.

_Really, she's too predictable. And amusing._

"So you've met Sasuke. I assume he was rude to you," Itachi said, sitting down on his bed and pulling her onto it as well. She snatched her hand away— rather, he let her snatch her hand away— and scooted to the corner of the bed farthest from him.

"Not as rude as you're being right now," she shot back. She looked about the room, no doubt searching for the book, but she froze once her eyes landed on Kisame. Kisame rolled his eyes at what he knew was coming next.

"You're blue," she blurted.

"Really? I didn't know that," Kisame drawled. His sarcastic comment seemed to completely fly over her head as she stared at him for several more seconds. Finally, she spoke.

"Huh. Okay." She shook her head. "It doesn't matter. Uchiha-san, give me my book."

"Please, call me Itachi." Itachi gave her what he knew was a winning smile. Internally, he raised his eyebrows at what had been the calmest reaction to Kisame's coloring.

"If I do, will you give me the book?" she pleaded. She pouted at him, eyes wide.

"No." Her eyes instantly began glowering at him. "I will if you give me your name."

"Uzumaki Hikari," she snapped, rolling her eyes. "Give."

He got the book out of the nightstand and handed it over to her, stifling his laughter when she swiped it immediately and positively ran to the door. "Goodbye, Uzumaki Hikari," he called after her retreating back.

Itachi shut the door and returned to his bed. He raised his eyebrows at Kisame.

"Feisty," Kisame said, replying to his unspoken question. "But she's nice. You should keep her around."

"Perhaps I will," Itachi mused, turning to his research papers. Then, he realized that he'd made a mistake. A rare occasion. He had no way to contact her, since she'd arrived at his dorm instead of calling him and therefore leaving a phone number to call back. Since the library book was checked out under his name, all overdue fees would be billed to him, which normally wouldn't be a problem, but he'd used the QuickCheck option (which made wait lists easier to handle) which required books to be returned twenty-four hours later, since he knew that he actually wasn't going to read it.

Itachi smiled. He knew what he had to do, and he delighted in it. He picked up his cellphone, dialing a number he'd memorized at first glance, and _grinned_ when he heard the irritated voice of the recipient.

"Hello, Sasuke," he greeted. "I need a favor."

-O-O-O-O-

(Hikari's POV)

It was three days after what she mentally dubbed as "the incident" that Naruto came to the dorm she shared with Hyuuga Hinata, leading an aggravated Sasuke.

"There you are," Sasuke grumbled, pushing Naruto onto her bed. Hikari's eyebrows shot up as Hinata began blushing at the sight of her twin. She turned her attention to Sasuke.

"What?"

"This is all your fault. I should never have given you directions to Itachi's room," he rambled, pacing back and forth while pulling his hair. "It's always Sasuke this, Sasuke that, Sasuke tell your little redheaded friend, Sasuke, Sasuke, Sasuke."

"Uchiha," she cut in. "You're making no sense right now."

He glared at her and shoved his phone into her face.

She gave him a questioning look but was dumbfounded as she saw what was on the screen. It was the call log, and as she scrolled down with her index finger, she saw only one name.

Uchiha Itachi.

"So your jerk of a brother called you forty-seven times. What of it?"

"What do you mean, 'what of it'? It's irritating! Driving me out of my mind! Give him your number, I can't deal with this. You have his number, right? Call him." Sasuke left in a huff, stalking out of her room.

In the ensuing silence, Naruto coughed. "So, Hikari, who is this?" he asked, motioning towards Hinata. Hinata's face turned even more red.

"Hyuuga Hinata," Hikari said. "Hinata, this is my twin, Naruto."

"P-pleased to meet you!"

Hikari left her dorm room—and Hinata's struggles—to call the number she'd been given a few days ago. She reasoned that not even Sasuke deserved to be bothered by Uchiha Itachi for so long.

_"__Hello?"_

"Hello?" she said. "Is this Uchiha Itachi?"

"_Yes. Who is this?"_

His voice, she noted, was deeper over the phone. "Uzumaki Hikari."

There was silence on the other end, then: "_Ah, the riveting redhead. Yes, I've been meaning to contact you somehow, but you ended up contacting me first. Couldn't resist my charms?"_

She rolled her eyes. "What charms? I just called because Sasuke was suffering too much. Why'd you want to contact me?"

_"__Well, it turns out that the book I checked out—the book you took, you know—was done via QuickCheck, which means that it's overdue. Overdue fees are rather nasty."_

The blood drained from her face. Overdue fees were _horrible_. Twenty dollars a day. Two days overdue.

Forty dollars.

_"__Don't worry, I can pay all the fees, but you owe me. And I'd appreciate it if you returned the book today for me."_

"Sorry," she blurted out. "I didn't know. If I knew I wouldn't have had it for so long, I'll go return it right now. Oh my gosh, is there anything I can do to make it up to you? I can pay you back!"

"_Oh, no worries when it comes to money. It's fine._"

"I need to repay you somehow," she insisted.

"_Well, if you really want to… how about a kiss?_"

She stiffened. "What? Are you out of your mind?" she shrieked.

_"__To be fair, I was going to suggest a date, but I figured you would prefer the kiss. Unless, of course, you want to spend hours on a date with me instead of giving me a short kiss, but—"_

"Okay, okay!" She sighed, running a hand through her hair. "I'll give you your kiss."

She cut the call.

"Shit."

-O-O-O-O-

She paused in front of the dorm room door. His dorm room door. Itachi's.

This felt _weird_. She was giving a kiss as payment. And yeah, it was just a kiss, but it was her body. But she didn't really have the money to make up the debt.

And he really was attractive, even if he was impossible.

Tentatively, Hikari raised her hand and knocked. A few seconds later, the door opened, revealing an Uchiha Itachi with glasses.

_Oh. Well. Crap. He's hot._

"Uzumaki Hikari," he said, voice amused, as he stepped back, inviting her in. "I take it you returned the book, then?"

"Yes," she muttered. She stood in the middle of his room, unsure of what to do. His blue-skinned roommate was missing.

"Sit," Itachi said, waving her towards his bed. She raised an eyebrow.

"I thought I was here to kiss you."

He chuckled. "Do you think that I'm going to kiss someone I barely know?" He sat down beside her. "Tell me about yourself."

She let out a long-suffering sigh. "Well, I'm a freshman, like I said before. I'm majoring in government."

"Oh? Do you plan on becoming President?" he teased. She didn't reply. "Oh," he said. "Wow."

Hikari looked up and saw something akin to admiration in his eyes. She flushed and looked back down. "What about you?" she asked in a rush.

He sat back. "I'm getting my MBA." Then, he sighed softly. "I'm expected to inherit my father's corporation."

She tilted her head. "You don't sound like you want to."

Itachi quirked the side of his mouth into a smile. "That's because I don't."

Despite her initial dislike of him, she felt her heart breaking for him. She knew the feeling of forcing oneself to live up to expectations very well. "I'm sorry," she offered.

"Don't be," he said. "It's not your fault. Although, it would make me feel better—"

She found herself on her back, Itachi hovering over her.

"—if a pretty woman were to comfort me in my time of need."

Hikari rolled her eyes. "You're insufferable," she told him, and brought his head down for a kiss.

His kiss left her breathless. His lips were gentle, coaxing, yet demanding, slanting across hers in a firm rhythm and pressure that left her lightheaded. She slowly slid a hand into his hair, raking her nails delicately against his head, and he traced her lower lip with his tongue in reply. She gasped, pulling away, chest heaving.

"Sorry," she said. "I just—I…"

His eyes watched hers, intent.

"Kiss me again," she whispered, voice hoarse. She licked her lips. "_Please_."

He did.

-O-O-O-O-

Hikari walked into Naruto's dorm and sat on his bed.

"So?" Naruto asked with glee. "How did it go?"

She fiddled with her sleeves. "I have a date with him tomorrow."

Sasuke groaned.

-O-O-O-O-

A/N: Well. I'll just leave this here then.

Don't forget to request oneshots/scenarios in the reviews!

See you next time!


	11. Chapter 11: Scarshipping

REQUESTED ONESHOT: Kakashi and Hikari, Scarshipping

For **Tsukiyomi-Hio **and **Sparkles of Youthfulness**: Soulmate!AU but still in Konoha.

-O-O-O-O-

Kakashi doesn't care about finding his soulmate. Never has. Never will.

He tells others, when they ask, that he has no time. It's not worth it. Not when the word printed neatly on his wrist, the first sentence that his soulmate will say to him, is _yes_.

"Ah, come on, Kakashi," Obito berates. "They don't have to be romantic. Soulmates can be platonic!"

"It doesn't matter," Kakashi retorts, eleven and war-hardened and damaged. "I don't want one."

"Even if it was me?"

"Especially if it were you." Besides, he knows that he could only ever consider his soulmate in a romantic light. Just like his father did.

And he doesn't want one at all. Because he's seen what losing a soulmate can do to someone. Because he's seen how his father spiraled downwards after a mission—_that_ mission—when his soulmate abandoned him to the critics, the whispers.

Soulmates only bring hurt.

It's a fact.

(He begins to wear gloves, wrist braces—anything to hide the word glaring up at him from his skin.)

-O-O-O-O-

Soulmates aren't the only things that bring hurt, he realizes. Losing Obito hurts. His left eye hurts. Hearing Rin cry hurts.

He is thirteen, and he's just lost his teammate, who was possibly his best friend.

He lies in bed, listless, yet unable to move. His wrist is turned towards him, mocking him with every thought he thinks, every question he asks.

"Where are you?" he rasps, tracing his eyes over the strokes of the word.

_Yes_.

"Why aren't you here?"

_Yes._

He stares dully at the word, considering if he should just take a kunai and slice his skin off. (But it won't work. It'll just reappear. He knows this.

He's tried.)

Finally, he allows himself a comfort, a false security, for just one moment. Just one second.

"Will I ever find you?" he whispers.

The word is dark against his skin.

_Yes_.

-O-O-O-O-

The hurt never goes away.

He loses everyone that he loves. Everyone that he ever let into his cracked, dusty heart. Rin. Kushina-san.

Sensei.

He retreats to ANBU, to where he doesn't have to be Kakashi, to where he can just be Hound. Faceless. Masked. Unfeeling. It dulls the hurt.

As Hound, he can hide. As Hound, he can watch over the little redheaded girl—_Hikari, Uzumaki Hikari, Namikaze Hikari, Kushina-san and Sensei's child, Sensei Sensei Sensei_—without his mind and heart and sanity shattering. "You're lucky," he tells her sleeping body one day. He lifts her and settles her on his shoulder, exiting the library and arriving at the orphanage in a heartbeat. "You haven't lost anyone yet."

It's easier to be Hound.

(Sometimes, he misses being Kakashi. So he tries being Kakashi again, but it's too much, all of it is too much, and he withdraws behind Hound.)

The Third sees this. He sees everything, when it comes to Kakashi. When it comes to Hound.

"I'm taking you off of ANBU," he says, staring at him gravely from behind his desk.

Hound _flinches._

"It's not doing any good for you, Hound." The Third rubs his wrist, where his sentence is. "The hurt will never go away, but you can learn to embrace it, rather than running away." Hound realizes that the Third has lost people too. Friends, mentors, his wife.

So he slowly takes off his ANBU mask. He is eighteen and exposing himself to the hurt again.

"Welcome back, Kakashi."

-O-O-O-O-

He is nineteen, coping with the hurt as much as he can, in the only way he can, when the Hokage summons him.

He stays by the Stone for several more hours.

The Third is displeased and wastes no time. "I want you to teach someone. Ichirou requested that you tutor someone in fuinjutsu."

Fuinjutsu. Sensei and Kushina-san's expertise.

"Hokage-sama, I—"

"Minato's child. The girl. Hikari."

His world shakes.

"I won't take no as an answer," the Third says. "You start today."

So he goes to the training ground at the appointed time, lingering in the trees and masking all signs of his presence, flipping through his book, unprepared to see the girl again as Kakashi and not Hound.

(But Hound is gone. There is only Kakashi left.)

Seeing her hurts every bit like he expected. Her hair. Her skin. Her eyes. They're too familiar, too much of Kushina-san and Sensei, so he turns to leave, but something draws his eyes back to her pacing form. Something wistful, something that whispers _just one more glance, one more glance of Sensei, of Kushina-san_.

So he watches, searching for their features, their characteristics, their mannerisms. He sees them. In the curve of her forehead, the slope of nose, the corners of her mouth.

But she stops pacing. Turns away. Begins to stride towards the village.

The words leave his mouth before he registers that he's talking. "And where are you going?"

She freezes. He curses internally.

He drops down to the ground. She turns. He speaks again, without planning to.

"Yo."

And he almost runs away.

Because her eyes seem to pierce straight through his faked nonchalance. She's assessing him, he realizes. Scrutinizing every detail, analyzing his stance, categorizing him in her mind.

Not like Sensei. Not like Kushina-san.

But like himself.

He's uncomfortable. "Can you speak?"

She looks unimpressed. "Yes."

His heart goes haywire. It's the first time she's talked to him. The word. The sentence on his wrist. He almost laughs out loud, almost breaks into hysterics, because, in the back of his mind, he thinks _only me, only I would have a soulmate that's the child of my dead sensei, that's thirteen years my junior, only me_. But before he does, before he gives in, he sees the look in her eyes.

There is no revelation. No shock. Just uncertainty, exasperation.

They are not soulmates. She doesn't have the words he said—_and where are you going_.

The relief is overwhelming.

"Okay," he says. He flips a page of his book. Her wrist, he notices, is covered. It is always covered.

Another similarity, then.

She huffs. "I'm a six year-old, and you're reading plotless stories about gross things in front of me."

A sense of stability falls over him.

This. This is something Kakashi can work with.

-O-O-O-O-

The years pass.

The Uchiha die. A part of him dies along with them. His student graduates. She goes on missions. She loses her teacher.

She knows hurt.

Losing Shoumaru, for some reason, doesn't hurt as much as he thinks it should have. Maybe it's because he's known hurt for so long that more hurt doesn't make a difference. Maybe it's because Shoumaru, Sensei's friend, Kakashi's older brother figure, has already faded almost entirely out of Kakashi's life, unable to bear the pain, the gaping hole that those who died left behind, that is always there whenever the two of them meet.

Kakashi doesn't know why. But he's grateful, morbidly so, that it doesn't hurt more.

And the years pass. His student become chunin. Not his student anymore, then. A mentee, perhaps. A kouhai.

He gets his own genin team. Her brother, the last Uchiha, and a quiet, yet determined civilian girl with the pinkest hair he's ever seen. They do well.

But.

Kakashi isn't ready for the adolescence and drama his team tracks with them.

They're thirteen. Interested in soulmates. On the cusp of becoming adults in body. Hormones, giggles, and whispers abound. He wants to tear his hair out; it's insufferable. He wasn't like this when he was thirteen.

(When he was thirteen, he was in a war. When he was thirteen, he was on a mission that lost his best friend. When he was thirteen, they weren't all even born.)

The soulmate frenzy surrounding his team's graduating class dies down, only to work up in a fervor again as two of his students, Naruto and Sasuke—_of course it's them_—discover that the words on their wrists equal their first conversation.

"_Ha. Pathetic._" On Naruto.

_"__What did you say?_" On Sasuke.

Then Kakashi has to mediate, intervene, explain that _yes, Naruto, soulmates can be romantic, but they can be platonic too_, and _no, Sasuke, you two get to decide how you want to develop your relationship_, and _no, Sakura, I haven't found my soulmate yet, and I don't really care if I do_.

They badger him. Constantly tail him, try and sneak a peek under the wristband of his gloves. It's worse than the time they tried to see his face without his mask.

So he gives in, takes off his glove, and shows them his wrist.

Naruto bursts out laughing. "Kaka-sensei, that sucks! It's so, it's so…"

"Ambiguous?" Kakashi suggests drily.

Sasuke smirks.

Sakura just shakes her head. "I wouldn't want to find my soulmate either, if I had that."

Naruto's interest is piqued. "What words do you have, then?" The focus of the conversation shifts away from Kakashi, and he relaxes.

Sakura holds up her wrist. They all lean in, even Kakashi, to read.

_Hi, I'm Yamanaka Ino_.

They stare.

"Well," Kakashi drawls. "I guess that settles that."

Later, when they tell Hikari, she takes one look at their faces and falls to the ground laughing.

-O-O-O-O-

Time continues on.

He gets into many misadventures with his team. Sometimes, Hikari joins them. And it hurts, of course it hurts, to see the twins together, almost near parallels of their parents, but Kakashi is also grateful. Because he can see them grow, watch as they mature, and guide them, in his own crooked way.

But then Naruto leaves. With Sasuke and Jiraiya, on a training trip. Three years without Naruto and Sasuke, who Kakashi has come to regard as his family, maybe even younger siblings. Three years.

The years pass.

Without his full team, he's free to team up with whoever he likes. More often than not, he finds himself requesting old ANBU teammates, because he knows how they function, how they fight. But he also requests her. His first student. Because he taught her, so he knows how she fights too.

He made the mistake of requesting Sakura once. He wasn't prepared for what Tsunade taught her.

And slowly, he slips into a new rhythm, one without Naruto and Sasuke and his genin—now chunin—team. He adjusts.

(He heals.)

He gets into his fair share of misadventures on missions with just Hikari. It's strange, how the Uzumaki's seem to attract danger. But it isn't anything that he can't defeat, so he continues to take missions with her. Because Naruto is gone, so Kakashi returns back to the other twin, like a stray.

A part of his routine includes weekly lunch with whichever group he last went on a mission with. Routine is bad for a shinobi, but he excuses himself in this case. He allows himself a small comfort.

And it's during one of these weekly meals that he learns unwanted news.

It's just him and Hikari, at Ichiraku's. Their last mission was a hunting mission that ended with a kill that earned her the rank of Special Jounin. To be honest, Kakashi hadn't needed to do anything at all. Hikari had taken out the missing nin, and that was that.

They're talking about the jutsus that they'd used on this mission over a bowl of ramen. Simple. Typical. Routine.

Yamanaka Ino shows up. "Hikari," she yells. "Naruto is coming back in a week!"

Hikari's face lights up. Kakashi turns his full attention towards Ino.

"He said that, ugh, he said that he and Sasuke decided to hook up, just to see." Both Hikari and Kakashi push their unfinished bowls of ramen away. Ino doesn't get the hint. "They decided not to do it again, but still, they're soulmates. You don't need labels like romantic or platonic when it comes to bonds like these. Like, if you wanna casually make out, then make out. It doesn't have to be so complicated."

Ah. Soulmates. A topic that hasn't come up for several years.

"Anyways, you haven't found yours yet, have you?" Ino asks. "You'd tell me if you did, right?"

Hikari sighs. "Of course I would, Ino."

"But I don't even know what your words are."

She sighs again and reaches for the ribbon covering her left wrist. "Here. Look."

Kakashi looks too.

_You're lucky_.

The words tickle some memory in the back of his mind. It comes back to him in a trickle, through Ino and Hikari's chatter.

A mask. Hound. The library. Picking up a sleeping child.

_"__You're lucky. You haven't lost anyone yet._"

He stills.

Kakashi stares at the words on her wrist. On Hikari's wrist. On his _student's_ wrist. _No, not a student anymore_, he thinks to himself. _Kouhai._ Vaguely, he's aware that his chakra has stuttered to a halt. She senses this and turns around.

"Sensei?"

He snaps his eyes to hers.

And shunshins away.

(A distant part of his mind notes that she still calls him sensei.)

-O-O-O-O-

It's not possible. It can't be possible.

Hadn't he confirmed, all those years ago, that they weren't soulmates? Had she been awake when he'd said those words? Did they count as his first words to her?

It isn't possible. He won't let it be possible. He's twenty-nine.

She's _sixteen_.

Minato-sensei would have killed him. There's no doubt about it. But what would Kakashi have said if he'd lived? If Kushina-san had lived? Or was it instead, what words would Hikari have been born with? Or were they set words, and had the universe arbitrarily decided to throw the two of them together?

This is horrible. Awful.

She's _thirteen years younger than him_. He's known her since she was _six_ and he was _nineteen_.

Unbidden, his mind draws forth a memory of his thought process from years ago. _Of course it's me, why wouldn't it be me who has to suffer this, only I would, Kushina-san and Sensei, Sensei Sensei Sensei_—

"Sensei?"

A knock on his door. It means only one thing.

She knows.

He knows she knows, and he bets that she knows that he knows that she knows.

He could run. Escape. Take a long-term mission, beg to leave the village. But she would find him.

(She always does.)

Kakashi is a coward. He runs, always. From his emotions, from the hurt, from complications. Kakashi is a coward. He doesn't want to be one anymore.

He opens the door.

She's standing there, blinking at him. He's a mess, he knows. His hair is in even more of disarray than it usually is. His mask is nowhere to be seen. His hitai-ate is somewhere behind him, on the floor of his living room, along with his vest and his gloves, the gloves that he ripped off to scratch at his wrist.

"Can I…come in?"

He moves to the side, waiting until she's inside, then shuts the door and leans against it.

The silence is stifling. Neither of them say anything. She stands quite a distance away, almost on the other side of the room.

He's already opened the door. He might as well break the silence.

"Were you awake?"

She looks up from where she's toying with the ribbon on her wrist.

"When I said the words," he clarifies, voice gruff and carefully neutral. "Were you awake?"

There's a pause before she answers.

"I thought it was a dream," she says slowly, meticulously, as if he's an injured dog. "I didn't sense anyone." She looks down, running a finger over her ribbon, and pulls it off.

Kakashi can't help it. His eyes are drawn to the words, blooming like ink on paper. _You're lucky_.

"Can you…" she trails off. He understands what she wants, and holds up his wrist.

Hikari steps closer, but he stiffens, so she stops. Her eyes trace the solitary word over and over again.

_Yes._

The silence settles again, heavy and cloaking. Kakashi stays absolutely still.

This time, she breaks it. "So what now? What happens now?"

He folds his arms tightly, making his body language as hostile as possible. "Nothing happens," he says.

She frowns. "We're soulmates, Sensei," she rebukes. "Soulmates can be platonic. We don't have to—"

"I can never see my soulmate any other way than romantically," he interrupts, harsh and unforgiving. She falls silent. "You understand, right? You're sixteen. I'm twenty-nine."

Her fists clench. A sense of foreboding crawls up his neck, because he's certain that she's going to display the infamous Uzumaki stubbornness.

He's not wrong.

"So?" She thrusts out her chin, shoulders back. She meets his right eye evenly and strides forwards. Suddenly, Kakashi is regretting staying against the door, where he's trapped and cornered.

"_So_," he grinds out, "it won't work. Nothing will happen."

"We're shinobi," she retorts. "Age shouldn't matter. Not when we can die young."

He tries for a different approach. "Think of what others would say."

She rolls her eyes. "I've never cared."

"I do."

She scoffs. "When have you ever cared about what other people thought about you?" She's right, and they both know it. "You said before that you see me as a kouhai now, _Kakashi_," she continues. He winces when she says his name, only his name. "Why can't you give me a chance?"

The hitch in her voice causes him to look up at her. She's raw, open, _vulnerable _in way that he's only ever seen twice before. But even as her emotions and mind are exposed to him, she watches him, assessing. The way she always has. The way she always will.

He finds his voice. "You remind me too much of your parents."

"That's wrong too."

She's right again. She's stopped reminding him of her parents long ago, when she began to forge her own path away from the legacies waiting to be filled.

He closes his eyes, out of excuses.

Eighteen years ago, he promised to himself that he would never care about his soulmate. The problem, he finds, is that he already cared about her before he knew they were soulmates.

"Alright."

Her surprise is palpable. "Wha—really?"

He opens his eyes. Glances down at her. Unfolds his arms, shows her his wrist. "Yes."

She reaches out, brushing a finger along the word, and smiles. "You're lucky."

He sighs. There's going to be backlash from the village. They will question the balance of their relationship. It will be difficult. Despairing.

But he smiles back, ruefully.

"I am."

-O-O-O-O-

A/N: Um.

Sorry.

(Not sorry.)


End file.
